Home Swap - a question please

[MotherPanda]

I've just won a years membership to Mumsnet's homeswap - thank you very much!

But I'm now a bit concerned it's a waste of time. My house isn't a anything special, its just a normal 3 bed terrace - does it have to be 5 star beauty to be able to swap?

I've been frightened off by looking at some of the advertised houses - and am worried no one will ever want to stay in my normal house.

"stay in a five star house - as nice as your own!"

Are there some normal family homes hidden in there?

Hi MotherPanda, congratulations! Any questions can be sent via [email protected], enjoy your membership!

MotherPanda, I also noticed how nice most of the houses are, and had the same reaction as you re. my own.

I guess it can't hurt to try? If those of us with 'normal' houses don't start using it, then it will only be for people with posh houses, which would be a shame...

Thanks fener - I've been happy to see other threads sprouting up about this so hope that some normal houses will occur, or i'm going to join this hovel swap.

Just had a look and i too think they all look uber posh! We are members of a couple of house swap sites all of which have really normal everyday houses/families to swap with.

I'd feel quite inferior putting my wee pokey cottage on this one!

But on a more positive note house swap in general is AWESOME! We love it.

I won too and am unsure whether we fit the bill. If any of you are interested in dipping your toe then message me. We are on the Kent coast :}

Hello folks,

We're a little despondent about our prize-winners feeling that they can't take up their prizes so we've had a bit of a dig into this issue. The key point is that the size and decor of the house aren't the only things that matter; for many people travelling abroad, the location is key. Home-swapping offers people the chance to live like a local, and often that can mean staying in a house or flat that is smaller than their actual home.

And while there are lot of luxurious homes on the site, there are smaller, less intimidating ones too, like this one or this one (DISCLAIMER: not that these aren't absolutely lovely).

So we'd hope you feel you can log on, give it a try for four weeks, put up a profile and send out some swap messages. You might be surprised the level of interest you attract. If you're living in London and you want to get away from the Olympics, you will have people desperate to swap with you; if you live in a small village in the Midlands, you may find that there's a family in Australia wanting to visit relations who live just down the road from you.

If anyone would like more information, our partners at Love Home Swap are more than happy to chat this through - do email [email protected] with any queries.

Thanks
MNHQ

If you've won a comp for a free year then I guess why not. However I def won't be joining. It seems odd that MN would set up this service. At £99 price and largely luxury homes it feels more like something from a design magazine than a family oriented site like it should be! It would feel like I am throwing away £99 especially when NCT is free and Guardian is only £30 and both have a much broader selection.

Hey RowanMumsnet :}

Don't be despondent I uploaded my details yesterday and I have emailed about some properties

Wannabe

Totally agree with you ArtSingh. There was another thread yesterday with lots of people saying the very same thing

Hurrah, wannabestressfree - let us know how you get on.

It does make me laugh though when trying to say its not all way over the top luxury one of the best examples that they can show is a 4 bed 4 bathroom home in Madrid!