A Home For A Home

The crux of the 21st century lifestyle can be boiled down to stress. With the advance of technology businesses have had to operate at such a pace that people are under immense pressure to perform in a matter of seconds and minutes. To escape the stress some people take Prozac, while others get a holiday home.

A holiday home is a fantastic investment that ensures your future sanity as you have a place to unwind. Many people also rent out their holiday homes for the most part of the year when they will be at work, which is a great way to have extra income or pay off your home loan.

The one argument against holiday homes is that you are permanently returning to the same location. So how do you maintain a holiday home while visiting new destinations without the guilty conscience and empty bank balance?

The solution is house swapping.  This means that two people, in the same country or abroad, exchange time at one another’s home for a new experience. Put simply, it is a game of tit-for-tat as you each enjoy a new area, local style, without any exorbitant costs.

 License: Creative Commons image source

Two websites that serve as a platform for house swapping are ivhe.com and homeexchange.com.  The first step is to upload the details and photos of your home. It is better for your ‘trading property’ to be a holiday home as this allows more flexibility for when the house swap can take place. People might not be able to swap at the exact same time for equal duration in the year.

It is then simply about choosing your location and the perfect property, you will also receive requests from other holidaymakers. The process has been compared to online dating as you send secure emails and photos to one another until you feel comfortable enough for these people to stay in your home.
Some people that have been involved in a house swap have swapped an Italian villa for a RV to roam through the USA, or even a house for a yacht. The possibilities are endless.

There are two methods of swapping and that is either directly or by credit swapping. Swapping directly is if you are in contact with another home owner and you both want to stay in each other’s home. Credit swapping is also simple and you get the opportunity to stay at someone’s house by earning credit. So when you let someone stay at your holiday home you earn points, you can then use these points to stay at any other trading property you choose.

A holiday home can become so much more than an escape goat, through house swapping it can be the key to multiple destinations.
Terrence Stoker
About the Author:

My name is Terrence Stoker and I have recentlyl taken out a home loan for a holiday house. In the process I came across the idea of house swapping and now I cannot wait to take a trip to Aspen next year.

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