Home Exchange Holidays – Risk Management
Home exchange or home exchange vacations are a great way to enjoy a cheap and convenient vacation. They are available through hundreds of websites that have thousands of satisfied customers. For the uninitiated, however, home swapping with strangers organized over the Internet can raise concerns about theft, damage, insurance, and even squatters. However, most home exchange companies will tell you (probably quite honestly) that such problems are extremely rare. This is because, in theory, anyone who joins a home exchange scheme should be like-minded as they also offer their properties to strangers.
Choosing the Right Website/Company
This is not usually a problem, as the operation of home exchange holidays is quite simple, which reduces the chances of finding an inefficient business. You can reduce risk by going with an established business that has a large number of listings, but you shouldn’t ignore smaller operations that might better serve your needs. A larger company will not offer you more legal or contractual coverage (as explained below). Some home exchange sites indicate how many successful exchanges members have made and this might give you more peace of mind if your exchangers were experienced (and therefore had no previous problems with them).
Legal questions about problems
Ultimately, all home exchange companies, whether they have thousands of listings or just started yesterday, will have you sign some type of agreement with their “Terms and Conditions” or acceptance of liability. Some companies have contracts for you to sign when you participate in a home exchange, but a lawyer will tell you that they are just a promise of goodwill rather than a legally binding document. This acceptance of responsibility should not put you off as, again, you are dealing with people in the same position as you and they are highly unlikely to cause any trouble. In the worst case, you could take legal action against the people who caused the problem (but not against the home exchange business).
insurance problems
Most home exchange systems, whether they involve a direct exchange or ‘non-simultaneous’ exchanges, do not make money for a property owner by having people stay in their home. This reduces insurance problems immediately and avoids further problems with subletting and income tax, etc. Since the people staying in your home are invited guests, your Contents Policy should cover you for accidental breakages, loss, and other damage. Of course, you should check your policy carefully in case there is a problem with those people you don’t know. A home exchange network with only your distant friends avoids this risk.
House guest standards
It’s not very serious, but probably the most common problem with home exchange vacations is miscommunication and misunderstandings about clothing, food replacement and cleaning etc. Even though this article does its best to reassure you and claims that all home exchangers think the same as you, of course we all have different standards and habits! This risk of problems can be easily managed by establishing clear communication and understanding prior to any home exchange situation. Most companies will have good guide sheets and checklists for you to fill out and leave with your guests.
Pay your money but not be able to change
Companies work with different systems (see my ezine article “Home Exchange Holidays: A Basic Guide for Beginners”), but there is a risk that you will pay your registration fee and then not be able to arrange a proper holiday. If the site runs a direct exchange system, then vacations are difficult to coordinate with your perfect dates and destinations, etc. However, if there is only a one-time registration fee, you could look at it as a long-term investment that won’t cost you anything extra until you manage to put together that cheap vacation. Please check property listings before joining if that is possible, as this could give you an indication of how successful you could be in arranging your desired vacation. Some home exchange websites use a one-time exchange where you choose from a database of properties and book to stay in one when it becomes available. This is easier to coordinate and organize as it is not a direct exchange, but it does mean that you have to be confident in your ability to offer a vacant property at a given time, regardless of whether you manage to arrange your exchange holiday during the same period. or not. This generally suits people offering a second home or vacation property that is vacant. If you can be flexible and don’t have specific, urgent vacation requirements, most companies have something to offer you. You don’t have much to lose by joining and you can even become a member of various websites to improve your chances of success.
Last minute problems when leaving!
A remote risk is having organized a home exchange involving flights, among other arrangements, and there is an unexpected problem outside the control of the respective party. No one involved can make any guarantees beforehand, but remember again that everyone in the scheme is in the same position as you and would hopefully do their best to resolve the issue. Good travel insurance will provide a financial safety net. Furthermore, a non-concurrent scheme reduces this risk as the properties are more likely to be vacant second homes rather than a full-time family home.
The risks are real, but serious problems are highly unlikely and are similar to the problems you might encounter if you book a more conventional vacation or even stay home.
The rewards of home exchange vacations, of course, far outweigh the risks outlined above, i.e. very low cost vacations, the comforts and services of home, a more authentic experience of a place, etc.