For every foreign holiday, there are normally two big outlays – the cost of travel and the cost of accommodation. But what if you could avoid one of those entirely?
Over the past 10 years, my family and I have taken part in five separate home exchanges, enjoying lengthy breaks in France, Spain and Canada. We’ve even turned down offers for house swaps in Hawaii, Australia and other far-flung destinations.
The service we use is called HomeExchange and our annual fee is €160, discounted from €175 because we have been members for so long.
The cost is fixed and it doesn’t matter how many exchanges you do or how few.
Although HomeExchange is the most popular service, there are others available, including Kindred, and even specialised clubs for swapping multimillion-euro properties.
Home exchange is not for everybody. For some people, the very idea of having strangers staying in their home can make them uncomfortable.
But there are some things you can do to soften that. We’ve been on exchanges where one room in the house was locked up to allow valuable items be safely stowed away.
Ultimately, it boils down to your own personality and your expectations around privacy.
We’ve visited France twice, Spain twice and last year took the leap on a transatlantic voyage. In Canada, we stayed in an ultra-modern house in a historic but cool neighbourhood of Quebec City.
It’s a different kind of holiday. You get to live like a local, stay in an area you might not even hear of in travel books and enjoy neighbourhood restaurants, bars and even supermarkets.
When we visited Santander a couple of years ago, we took our car with us on the lovely Brittany Ferries route to northern Spain. We stayed in a modern apartment on the outskirts of the city, close by a cliff-lined beach and hiking trails along the spectacular coast.
There is, as with any holiday, a chance something could go wrong, though all five of our completed exchanges went without a hitch.
We did have one minor disaster as we discovered our young son’s passport was out of date a day before we were due to fly out for our holiday. We decamped to family in the country and spent a few days touring Cork instead. The blame for that mishap lay entirely with us.
Otherwise, the biggest issues have been where to find bin bags, figure out a high-tech vacuum system and sorting out which buttons do what on an unfamiliar TV remote.
That is not to say more serious things can’t go wrong, including last-minute cancellations, damaged items or something happening to your house while you’re away.
HomeExchange membership includes guarantees covering theft, property damage and last-minute cancellations. However, the system works primarily on trust; both sides have a common interest in taking care of each other’s home.
Usually, families will exchange with families so everybody knows what’s involved in having smaller kids running around.
The system relies heavily on reviews as well. If you get good reviews, you’ll probably get more exchange offers in the future.
As for the practicalities, you sign up for the service, get verified and then create a listing for your home and nearby attractions. You will have to upload photos of your rooms and there’s an obvious incentive in making your house look as nice as possible.
We are in the fortunate position of living in Dublin near Stoneybatter and Phibsborough, which – helpfully – often make international lists of trendy neighbourhoods.
Our location does help in getting exchanges, but most parts of Ireland are attractive to exchangers.
Organising an exchange can involve a bit of donkey work, seeking out a willing partner who has the same travel dates as you. You might have to contact multiple people before you find the perfect swap: sometimes that perfect swap will approach you.
Many exchanges are simultaneous so that you stay in the other person’s house while they are at yours. However, there are options for non-simultaneous exchanges, especially where people have a second property.
You build up what are known as “GuestPoints” by letting somebody stay in your home when you’re not there. These can then be used by you for a trip, where nobody needs to come to your house.
Another advantage of saving on accommodation costs is that we’ve been able to extend our stay in a hotel before returning home. That meant a few days in Montreal, Porto and Marseilles – cities we might not otherwise have had the chance to visit.
There are certain logistical issues to be addressed. First and foremost is getting your house ready and figuring out how your guests will get the keys, whether through a lockbox, family or a neighbour.
Most people on HomeExchange will have a “guidebook” for their house, which can be printed out or shared via email in advance. This will describe basic things such as how to work appliances and devices, the broadband password and the alarm code.
It’s expected that your house will be spic and span when your guests arrive, with fresh bedclothes and towels (and hopefully vice versa). But it is understood that people’s homes are not going to be perfect in every way.
As well as swapping houses, people often exchange cars. Some of the families did use our second car but, for our part, we either brought ours on the ferry or rented a vehicle locally.
If you are exchanging cars, both sides should check their motor insurance.
It’s hard to put an exact figure on how much an exchange saves but a week or 10 days in a large home rarely comes cheap. Looking for somewhere in Quebec next summer to mirror our family’s week there in July 2025 suggests a cost of between €1,300 and €2,400.
On an exchange, the accommodation cost for you will be little more than your annual membership fee and perhaps paying a cleaner to come.
If you’re retired or have a flexible job, you could do multiple swaps every year. And if your house is in a popular location, you won’t be short of offers.
Not all offers will be suitable but if you’re looking to save money on your next holiday, a home exchange could be worth a try.
You can contact us at OnTheMoney@irishtimes.com with personal finance questions you would like to see us address. If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can read it here.
