8 Easy Ways To Choose a Home Swap Club
1. Location, Location, Location – When you search for a house exchange/house swap you need to achieve two things: a) find a suitable home in your dream city and b) find an exchange partner who wants to visit your city. Let’s say you want to vacation in Paris. If a house exchange club has 20K members, but they have only 100 homes in Paris, you have less of a chance with them than you would with a home swap company with 10K members and 1,000 homes in Paris.
2. Number of Listings: Sometimes it’s all about numbers and increasing your odds of booking an exchange. When you join a home swap company you’ll want to remain a member with them for several years, so although this year you may want to enjoy a home exchange in Paris, next year it might be Madrid. Consider all eight ways to select a home swap club and choose the company that feels right and meets most of your priorities.
3. Price: Annual fees for home swap clubs range. Many allow you to look around their website for free; Shelly says you should invest 30 minutes on three different house swap websites and determine which one has the most homes that match your style.
4. Maximum Number of Photos Allowed: High quality photos of your home are the single most important way to attract a top home swap. When you home exchange you’ll want to know exactly what you’re getting, and you’ll want to see photos of the kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and yes the bathrooms too.
5. Reverse Search: It allows you to easily find home exchange partners who want to visit your city or state, as opposed to you looking at the entire list of members and just hoping to find someone who wants to visit your region.
6. Website Ease: Website friendliness is really subjective, but there’s no question that some sites are easier to use than others.
7. Language Translation: After 14 house swaps in nine countries Shelly always communicates with our swap partners in English. But just in case, a few home swap agencies offer translation options.
8. Response Rate: Some people join house exchange clubs and then don’t ever exchange; they don’t even respond to house exchange requests. Don’t waste your time with them; focus on the members who are actively seeking and responding. Look for members who have a 75% and above response rate.
So there are Shelly’s top tips on how to get started. If you get the bug, you may discover the world is only a few clicks away.