Mumsnet Homeswap - the houses are so luxurious!

[BeattieBow]

so I've just been looking at the link to the homeswapping site through the email, as this is something we are thinking of doing.

But the houses are all so luxurious! where did they come from - surely they're not mumsnetters homes? I don't think I would feel comfortable swapping with any of those luxury houses, and I'm not sure that the residents of them would want to live in my house. are there any "normal" houses in the list?

Pixel we could do a house swap and not even notice we have different cats

South of England appeal? In a Nice House? lies preposterously

Love to hovelswap but I'm not sure anyone would want a 2 bed flat on the outskirts of Watford at all

terra

I am a bit baffled atm?

I like my house but it's so not worthy of the Hamptons etc.... is hovel swap an actual site (dim)??

It can be!

Im in for swapping hovels

Musicposy, not much point, I'm already on the south coast. I'm probably in the next street to you .

Actually it's probably the same cat. He is out a lot of the time, sometimes stays out all night.

£99????! That just seems soooo steep! I've been a member of Guardian Home Exchange for a few years now and their service is great and I've had some really excellent exchanges - and that is under £30 a year!

Seems strange that a family orientated place like MN would charge so much. Also from the link I was sent the homes look way over the top luxury - I don't get who its aimed at??

Oh well.

btw if anyone is interested the site I use is www.guardianhomeexchange.co.uk. Been great so far.

Agree Alleycat. I really cannot see how on earth MN decided that site in any way says 'family friendly MN demographic'.

Since this discussion started I have now signed up with Guardian home exchange too! So many people have said such good things about it. Have just loaded our profile and am now sitting here waiting for the offers to start rolling in.

Have you any tips for first timers on a house swap site?

Hey FannyPriceless that's great to hear! I really love home exchanges and have nothing but good experiences with the Guardian site so far.

One tip I would give is to start contacting lots of people through the site. I have always been really active on the site and I think this has been why I've always found good swaps. Also when I find a potential person/home to exchange with I always like to get to know them as well as posible before I go on the swap, it just makes me feel at ease. On all the exchanges I've been on I've emailed back and forth with the other family for about 1-3 months and also nearer the time of the holiday have talked to them on the phone a few times just so we're all comfortable and know exactly what we've agreed :)

I'm still pondering on whether a MN Hovel spreadsheet might be a good idea - but not sure if people would want to do it?? I know there's the house swap section on MN anyway, so maybe that's enough - maybe it just needs more traffic?

Not sure, Dotty, but it's interesting. Certainly since discussing it on here I've thought it might be an excellent idea.

For instance teaandcakeplease my girls might be in Aylesbury for a week in the summer so Watford would be pretty good for us. 2 bed flat doesn't matter, I'd sleep in a shed. It would save us a fortune so I really do think its a possiblity.

Anyone near Dartford over Feb half term like to spend 5 days on the South Coast?

See, I think I'm not a very exciting venue but probably everyone else thinks the same, because where you live is always boring and you know all the bad bits. Other people will see it with different eyes.

I might go on the house swap page now, but I think it does somehow need more traffic. I think the nice thing about the hovelswap is I don't have to feel my house is wonderful (believe you me, it isn't) to do it - and that's what has always put me off before.

Could a spreadsheet have links to photos of mould and leaky doors?

yes definitely photos would be needed. I'll have a think about what info we'd need to collect/swap...

musicposy It's bunk beds in my children's room and a double in mine. It's 3rd floor, no lift and we have 3 goldfish and a hamster. Yes it's not far to Aylesbury, straight up the A41. Also near St Albans which is lovely or it's 20 mins down the M1 into London or you can catch fast trains and be there faster.

the house in the nearest town to me is SO like mine - it even has the 9 seater HD cinema room hidden behind a bookcase .

Nice to have some new house porn of course - but I can't imagine many of us are in that league

GeekLove - I'll swap your 3 bed mid-terrace in Coventry for my 3 bed end-terrace in Coventry. You might like it if you've ever wondered what your house might look like if you had a partner who has never finished a DIY project EVER.