Anyone done a house-swap for travelling? Did you use an established house-swap organization (e.g., HomeLink, Intervac, other), or did you do it on your own? What are the upsides and downsides? Do you have suggestions to make sure this is a successful arrangement and one which avoids pitfalls?
Much appreciated,
Mike
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Mike, we did our first house swap this summer and all went well. I've always wanted to do one of these, however, my husband was quite indifferent about the idea. He agreed to do one after I asked a friend who had moved home from from southern England if she had any friends who might want to do one.
As she put it, I have no problem with recommending either of you to each other. The other couple and us made arrangements early on for extra auto insurance on one vehicle each with the paperwork in the glove box. Luckily neither of us had any accidents. In addition, we had our vehicle tuned and serviced. I had also notified my homeowner's insurance company that these people would be in our home so that everything would be up front. Our agent was glad that someone would be in our home while we were away.
I left a detailed booklet of how to operate our appliances and instructions, along with a copy taped to the main appliances, for our home along with repairmen's phone numbers. None of this was needed.
I cleaned out our refrigerator/freezer so that the other couple and their two daughters had plenty of storage space. In addition, I left vacant space in closets and drawers.
Be prepared if you should do an auto swap in England that you will probably get a vehicle that not only do you drive on the left side of the road but you will also shift with your left hand while sitting on the right. Plus, you will be driving on narrow lanes on the left side. It is doable but you have to be on your toes and especially when you enter circles. You might prefer renting an automatic. Of course on the mainland of Europe you won't have such a problem.
We spent the night previous to them leaving in a bed and breakfast close by so that we could meet. I believe that made them feel comfortable with us taking over their house for two weeks.
It was a wonderful experience actually living in their home and learning of the differences of the two countries.
We've done it both ways and are thinking of trying it again next summer. In the absence of specific connections, I would go with an established organizations. You get more exposure and access to more options. All of the suggestions below are good ones. In addition, we leave the names of friends, relatives, and neighbors who can be approached in any kind of "situation" where help might be needed. We designate one person who has authority to make decisions, e.g., if an appliance repair is needed. We leave a map of our area with some good restaurants, markets, a hospital ER marked on it. We also leave all of our AAA road maps and books about our area in one place. We leave post-it notes on cupboards holding anything we prefer they don't use. We believe that anything which makes the exchangers have a better experience will lead them to take better care of our house. We've done it four times and are really enthusiastic. BTW you do know, don't you, that you can preview the listings of these organizations before joining? You can e-mail me if you have other questions.
