Homelink.org

Homelink.com isn't an exchange site but homelink.org is one that has been in existance for more than 60 years--they used to mail out a book with home listings. They changed their url a couple of years ago to https://homelink-usa.org. We have used them (and one other agency) for many European home exchanges since joining in 1995.

The key is to find a match with a family who wants your home, area and time period. We start looking a year in advance which you can do now without joining to see what your prospects are.

The other agency we use is homeforexchange.com. They have >2,000 listings for French families wanting to exchange in the US. Have fun looking and planning!

Yes, homeink-usa.org is the one we've been exploring. We have the free membership right now and were tentatively planning on a full membership soon. thanks for sharing your experiences. I've read questionable reviews of homeexchange.com. Would you say that your exchanges have essentially been without cost and without surprises? thanks!

I don't know anything about homeexchange.com but it's good to investigate. I think some other exchangers on this forum may know about them so maybe they'll add something.

Yes, I'd say that all of our exchanges have been without cost except for the modest membership fee. We've had no negative experiences, only very very positive ones. Each exchange family has been unique and fun to get to "know" over the months we correspond with them in the months leading up to the exchange. We look at Google street view and pictures of their home when deciding on our exchange so we are rarely surprised except in a good way. An example would be in the welcome information left for us or friends or family who invite us to dinner at their home.

Thanks Mona. We're tentatively about 10-11 months out from when we want to go. I thought I might pay the membership fee soon and start looking more seriously. Does this timeline sound about right?

When to contact people varies. Many Europeans plan their vacations months in advance and others are a bit more last minute. But with purchasing airfare to consider most fall into the plan early category.

If you are planning an exchange for 10-11 months from now you'll find your prospects more limited unless your desired time period hits a 1-2 week school vacation period. If you are looking at March and April of 2017 you may be limited to exchangers who are retired or have no children in school, maybe 1/2 of all listed exchangers, FWIW.

We've done several house exchanges, using 3 of the listing agencies, including homelink.org. They all work in much the same way. Even the the worst exchange was still good.

School vacation times are your best bet for securing an exchange, because many of the exchangers have children and/or are teachers. The more flexible you are, the better your chances are. For example, one year we threw in Denmark as a destination, just on a whim. We normally avoid summer travel, but an offer came up for Copenhagen in mid-June. It turned out to be one of our best experiences with house exchanging.
I'll just throw in one caveat. The exchange may be free, but it does take time and effort to arrange and to get your house ready for strangers to live in it comfortably.

We've completed 13 home exchanges since 2007 and use homeexchange.com. They have more than 65,000 listings and every exchange we've done has been a fabulous experience for our family. Homelink is another one of the many home exchange "clubs" that are online. They are all very similar in how they work...it's just their website design and interface that differs. Some are easier to use than others and some have more information about the listings / listers than others.
Our first two home exchanges were in France - it's a wonderful place to exchange! PM me if you want any home exchange or advice...

Never heard of this before. Intriguing but seems very strange to me. Personally, I just couldn't see myself all that comfortable with a stranger living in my house! Haha.

To each his own.

I am sure we wouldn't get many takers though. Even though we have a newer, very large house with 5 bedrooms, a pool, a bar, theatre room, work out room, We are in the rural Midwest and probably isn't the most desirable locations for a vacation destination!

I don't know, maybe we will try this some day.

I am curious. I assume that your travel plans need to align with theirs mostly. I bet it can be a real challenge for many to find dates. As pointed out earlier, probably most are retirees.

I've read that some europeans have a vacation home that they also exchange. And it helps your chances of exchanging if you have a second home too. Which makes sense. We're lookimg forward to exploring and giving home swapping a try Thx for all the great advice.