house (not wife!) swapping

revnev

I can't find this topic elsewhere - sorry if I've missed it...

we're looking for a cheaper family holiday option for next year (and for half terms) - and I'm interested by the house-swapping idea - I've seen a couple of sites that co-ordinate this...

Has anyone on here done this? If so - any tips or advice?

Many thanks,

Phil

richardw

Does your home contents or buildings insurance permit this?

How will you recover the cost of damage to your home?

revnev

Good question - I don't know! I'll have a look on the FAQ's on the house-swap sites...

thanks.

Phil

blindman

I did this once years ago and had a 4 week holiday on the outskirts of Paris, very good swap.

All in all it was a good exchange though you do have to trust each other with your possesions, utility bills and niceness to neighbours!

The type of people who do this swap are like minded so you''ll not find too many horror stories.

It can be hard to organise and takes a lot of work to advertise\contact and then arrange a swap.

Easier to do now though with lots of internet sites, how well you get on depends on how you 'market' your house.

Worth giving a go though!

revnev

thanks - that's encouraging. Did you tell your insurers - or is the fact that no money changed hands a factor - you could just say that friends were staying there while you weren't...

Phil

blindman

As they are your guests then you do not need to tell any insurers.

However, IF they nicked some of your stuff you're not covered, not sure about if they damage the contents or buildings though ( I would suspect you are covered, you need to look at your policies).

You need to confirm\agree how much of the utilities they can use for free (No 090 premium numbers :eek:)

richardw

Perhaps having a walk around your home and garden with a pen and paper and doing a list of what you wouldn't want damaged might assist you in deciding if it isn't worth risking.