Holidays In Homes

House-swapping sites

There’s no need to spend a fortune on holiday accommodation, house-swapping is fun, educational and free.

We have plenty of information to get you on your way to your first house-swap holiday. Check out our favourite sites below.

House Swap

Most house swaps are organised so the two parties directly exchange – they come to your house, you go to theirs. You can swap for as long or as short a time as you both decide. There are also ‘non-synchronised’ swaps; for example, you go to their house, but they won’t necessarily go to yours – they’ll stay elsewhere or in a second house.

The best place to access the house-swapping community is on the internet. Membership-based house-swap organisations offer search facilities, a guide to exchanging and helpful customer support, such as providing you with a simple contract. Once your membership is paid, you can start to contact other members directly. Many people start planning six months or a year in advance, in order to get to know you and your house before choosing to commit.

Holiday In A Home!

Travelling is exciting, but it can be hard work. Nothing is familiar, eating in restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner soon loses its novelty, and hotels can feel like they've had cultural Botox to take out local expression and charm. But imagine arriving in Tuscany or San Francisco to all the comforts of an established home, with a welcome note, some food in the fridge and possibly even a car to use?

All over the world, thousands of families, friends, couples and singles are house swapping, sitting or staying. You can choose what best suits you: to swap houses directly with another, to babysit someone's house for them while they're away, or to stay with the home-owners or have them to stay with you. Many people make this holiday choice to save on accommodation costs only to find the greatest benefit is meeting neighbours, getting insider tips on restaurants and places to visit, and making great friends. 

Types of House Swaps

You can swap your house, yacht or cruiser for similar accommodation or choose to look for a special interest house swap, such as near or on a golf course. There’s no obligation to swap like properties; in fact, people often want to try something different. You could potentially swap your country house for their studio apartment in Manhattan, or your mountain shack for their yacht on the Aegean.

Getting Started

With a house swap, sit or stay the key is research. Look at location, number of bedrooms, access to public transport, check security arrangements and make sure both parties are clear about expectations: the use of household goods, any responsibilities for pets or gardens, etc. The home-owner's insurance is usually sufficient, but double check this with the relevant insurance company.

Other than that, it's just a matter of trawling the internet, joining up to the site you like, and starting to search the properties. You can often browse websites before becoming a member to get a feel for the type and range of properties they offer. Then it's up to you to make contact and get swapping.

Home or Hospitality Stays

Often used by international students who want to stay with a family, homestays can also be a great source of accommodation in countries where tourism and hotels aren’t as developed or affordable.

Or maybe you’re after something different: a windmill, a lighthouse or a luxury chateau? Anything’s possible: a house as cheap or as extravagant, as adventurous or as much like home as you want.

Some house swap organisations recommend ‘hospitality stays’, when the two parties stay with each other first, as a way of finding out if a future swap will work. This could be great if over time you’ve come to feel truly simpatico with them, but of course, share and share alike is hard enough with your own friends and family, let alone with strangers.

The Advantages

Many people feel secure knowing their house is occupied while they are away. Once you have established relationships with house swappers and have had a positive experience, you might find yourself hooked: house swapping is cheap (especially for families or groups), and gives you a direct, personal experience of a place and its people.

… and disadvantages

Naturally you have responsibility for the leaving the house in a good condition. There is always the chance that some aspect of the house or arrangement will disappoint. The only thing that can prevent this is doing more research.

It's in the interests of both parties to be up front about the limitations or realities of their properties. But if the house or apartment isn't what they said it was or isn't how you envisaged it, you can save it as a good story to tell your friends when you get home.

HomeLink has 13,500 house swappers from 69 countries on its database. The 12-month fee for listing your property on the website is $220 and for listing on the web and in the huge hard-copy directory, $270.
Ph 1800 853 535
Web HomeLink

Aussie house swap provides properties for swap in Australia and New Zealand. Membership is only $48 a year but you can browse without becoming a member.
Ph 0431 417 419
Web Aussie House Swap

Happy house sitters is an Australian-based company established in 1999. Potential house sitters pay a registration fee, which varies depending on the area.
Ph (03) 9532 9837
Web Happy House Sitters Australia

Other homestay websites are:
Unique Home Stays
British Homestays
HomestayWeb

Hospitality and Home Exchanges

• Aussie House Swap is a quality home exchange database for those who love holidaying without huge accommodation costs. We specialise in home exchange holidays within Australia and New Zealand. House swapping locally means more holidays more often, saving more money! Visitors can scroll the house listings for free but only Aussie House Swap members are able to make contact with other members privately via email. Members are in total control with who they want to swap with eg. seniors may prefer to swap with other seniors. Membership costs only $48 AUD for 12 months.
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• ElderTravelers maintains an internet database of Seniors from around the world, who are willing to host other seniors, in exchange for being a guest when it is their turn to travel.
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• Home Exchange. Home exchangers trade their homes, condominiums or apartments at a time that is convenient to both parties. You have to be a member to list your home - US$49.95 for a year - but you can view the listings without charge.
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• Seniors Home Exchange. Seniors Home Exchange can provide you with the very best alternative holiday at a cost that you never thought possible. All arrangements are made privately by the concerned parties and you yourself choose who you want to exchange visits or homes with. You are free to make arrangements for as many exchanges as you desire. Contact is by email. The cost to register an exchange is $50 US funds for a 3 year listing or $100 for Lifetime Membership.
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Housesitting

• Aussie House Sitters is an Australian owned house sitting database exclusively for house sitting jobs within Australia and New Zealand.  It’s TOTALLY FREE for homeowners to advertise for a house sitter or to scroll and find a suitable house sitter. Registering as a house sitter costs only $48 for 12 months membership. This one flat rate makes Aussie House Sitters an extremely affordable option for seniors. Aussie House Sitters do NOT charge huge zoning fees like most other house sitting websites!
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• Australian House Sitters Directory. A house sitter is a person who lives in someone else’s home while they are away. A house sitter takes care of the home, garden, pets, and everything else. In return, house sitters gain free accommodation. The Australian House Sitters Directory is a national database of house sitters, containing the details of people who want to look after someone else’s home. The cost of registration and one year’s entry in the directory starts at $185 for most metropolitan zones and up to $370 for high demand zones.
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• Happy House Sitters. People do housesitting for many reasons. They may be saving for their own home, having their house renovated, being transferred interstate, not want to be tied to a lease, or they may like to live in many different locations. Happy House Sitters is an Australian company which manages a ‘list’ of house sitters. Home owners searching for house sitters are introduced to the house sitters via this list. Sitters pay a fee starting at $150 for one year’s registration. The service is free to homeowners searching for a sitter.
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• Holiday House Sitters. Australia wide house sitter service which is free to home owners. House sitters can advertise their availability to care for people’s homes, gardens and pets. Senior house sitters are ready to care for others’ properties. Seniors can save on accommodation when travelling and advertise as a house sitter. Fees to advertise as a sitter start at $95.00 for a year with an extra three months bonus at present.
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• Right at Home provides a personal service to both home owners and sitters. They screen and match sitters with compatible home owner requests and provide legal agreements for all parties, so that expectations are clear and easy, and everybody is protected. They manage short and on-going stays in Melbourne and country Victoria and will soon be in other states. Short term sitters are especially popular at school holiday times. The costs to sitters is just $50 for short term and $195 for ongoing. This covers you for a whole year. The cost of having a fully screened and checked sitter to care for your home and pets can be found on their website.
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• Worldwide Housesitting Register. This Australian service has now gone worldwide. Have a house sitter look after your home and pets while you’re away. There is a $50 fee to register for 12 months for Australia, USA, Canada and UK but registration for other regions is free.
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