HOUSE SWAP = MONEY SAVER
Tips on diving into a home exchange for your next adventure READY TO BE A RENTAL HOST?
f you’re open-minded when traveling, like to savemoney and are willing to try something new, arranging to swap your house through a home-exchangewebsite could be a great move.
Membership fees for home-exchangewebsites typically run about $100 per year. Homelink.org and Intervac.com have been around for a long time, andHomeExchange.com offers a lot of diversity in its locations. You could start with a free site, or free trial, to get comfortablewith the idea, althoughDawn Royski, who blogs about home exchanges for sharetraveler.com, notes that free sites tend to rack up a lot of inactive members.
Before joining a site, see howmany listings it has in locations that interest you. Try a short swap in theU.S. before venturing abroad.
Be flexible about your destination, especially if you live in a rural or suburban area that might not be so appealing to the owner of that Tuscan villa you’ve been eyeing. Youmay also have to planwell in advance.
Lauren Kahn, who has been swapping homes since 1990 and blogs at altecockertravels.weebly.com, recommends negotiating between October and January for summer swaps in Europe, and a couple of years out for swaps in Australia orNewZealand. Exchanges across shorter distances can be arranged with less notice.
Check the home-exchange evaluations
If you’re cool with strangers staying at your place for a little while, you could become an Airbnb host.
The short-term home rental site and others like it charge a service fee of at least 3 percent of the rent; in return, some lend a hand with marketing and offer insurance. The sites collect payments fromyour guests and deduct fees and sometimes taxes before sending the rest to you. Third-party services, including Guesty, Pillowand Proprly, help make being a temporary landlord easier by managing your listings, delivering keys and cleaning.
To get started, check with your homeowners association, condo or co-op board (or landlord, if you’re a renter) to see if short-term rentals before pulling the trigger on a home swap. The exchange service you are using should provide that information to members who request references.
Some home-exchange sites offer cancellation insurance, but if you’ve done your homework on your exchange partners, the risk of cancellation is fairly low. Think about the worst-case scenario before you opt for insurance— a change fee for your plane ticket? A few nights in a hotel? Or, if you buy comprehensive travel insurance, see which cancellation scenarios it would cover.
If you live in a condo or co-op, clear the swap with the board, and if you are a renter, tell your landlord. Your homeowners insurer may be lenient in swapping situations, says SpencerHouldin, are allowed and under what conditions. Your city or county may have restrictions and/or charge a registration fee and require you to secure city permits. Zoning rules may prohibit short-term rentals.
Laws on short-term rentals tend to be enforced only if the neighbors complain because, say, your guests throwa raucous party. But that is changing in some areas. If you flout the rules and get caught, you may have to cough up a fine. Your city council or local governmentwebsite is the best place to start your research. Airbnb also has summaries and links for about 50U.S. cities on its “ResponsibleHosting” page.
—Kiplinger of Ericson Insurance Advisors in Connecticut, but check to be sure. Generally, as long as you give your guests permission to drive your car, your auto insurance will cover them, but call your insurer to confirm.
Prepare a binder for your guests with information on everything from howto operate your coffeemaker towhomto call if there’s a plumbing emergency. Substitute cheap dishes so your guests don’t break fine china and lock up valuables and important documents. Clarify whether you expect your guests towater your plants, look after pets or chip in for utility bills. Kahn cautions, however, that the more demands you put on your guests, the harder it will be to nail down an exchange.
Finally, enjoy your rent-free stay and dive in to the local culture.