Looking for a way to get the family out of town without breaking the bank? House swapping and house sitting are two alternatives to traditional travel that you may want to consider if you are trying to save money on travel. These are great ways to find free or cheap accommodations!
House swapping is an attractive option as long as you’re okay with another family taking over your digs while you take over theirs. House sitting also helps you save on accommodations, but there are usually strings attached—you’ll probably be asked to care for the property and maybe even a pet…or ten.
Both of these types of arrangements could be for a short amount of time—say, a weekend in New York City—or for months on end, a la spring in the South of France. In any case, with some careful research on these house sitting and home exchange websites (and possibly a small membership fee), you and your family can find free and cheap places to stay that will offer up a unique way to experience thousands of locations around the world.
Best House Swapping Websites:
First let’s look at some websites that specialize in house swapping. Some focus on straightforward arrangements (you stay in my house next summer, I’ll stay at yours) while others have created more advanced points systems that allow for more flexibility, especially if you have a second home you can offer up or use yourself!
1. Home Exchange
The leader in the house swapping market, HomeExchange boasts over 400,000 homes in 187 different countries. The website is reminiscent of Airbnb; it’s attractive, robust, and very easy to navigate to find the information you’re looking for. It’s easy to join the platform also. You simply create a profile, list your favorite destinations, and add info and pics of your own home. The hardest part is probably getting things tidy enough to get some good shots! You also have the ability right away to edit your availability calendar so that other members can see when your home is open for use.
Home Exchange lets you do reciprocal swaps, where you and another member use each other’s homes at the same time, or you can use their flexible Guest Point system. You earn points by hosting members, getting other people to join the platform, etc. Each home is given a point value that is based on what the estimated rental value would be. Just by signing up you earn 450 points, which is the equivalent of about 2-3 nights in an average home!
It will cost you $150/year to actually become a member so that you can complete an exchange, but you can browse and plan for free before you make the commitment.
2. Love Home Swap
Similar to HomeExchange, LoveHomeSwap allows you to swap homes with another family. They also feature a “classic swap” or a points swap option. You can get going for free with a 2-week free trial, and then choose from three plans that average about $150/year and give you different levels of access to the site’s features. The best plan includes access to a support team and free airport lounge passes! You can peek at some of the homes available without entering much information or signing up for anything, and with over 100 countries represented, there’s plenty to see.
3. Homelink
Homelink proves that house swapping was around well before the internet came onto the scene! Founded in 1953 with hand typed lists of home exchange offers, this organization has a simplistic approach that has withstood the test of time.
Browse their extensive inventory for free, and if you like what you see, you can create an account and become a member for about $105/year. There are no points, or any fancy features at all really, just a well-done website where you can find people who are interested in simple, synchronous house swapping.
Representatives in 27 countries are ready to field your questions, and you can also read through “10 Principles for a Successful Home Exchange”, member reviews, and guest books to get the most out of the swap.
4. Holiday Swap
The final house swapping site we’ll mention is Holiday Swap, whose platform features homes in about 185 countries. You spend as little as $1/night and can subscribe to additional features like travel insurance and property damage protection.
Their chat feature will translate into any language, which is super handy if you’re working with international house swappers. Unlike the other sites we’ve mentioned, you will have to create a basic account before you can view any member’s home. The platform overall is less robust, but if you can find success with discovering potential matches then the price point will outweigh the extra time it takes to navigate this platform.
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Best House Sitting Websites:
Next, a look at some excellent house sitting websites. If you don’t want to offer up your own home and you’re okay with possibly being tied to caring for someone’s pets and/or property, this could be for you.
1. Trusted Housesitters
TrustedHousitters.com has the most house sitting opportunities listed (about 2,000 at any given time!) and a robust website that allows you to easily filter and view opportunities. You can browse without joining, and then for $189/year you can purchase an annual membership that allows you to both be a sitter and find one for yourself.
This is the priciest site we’ve reviewed but you do get a lot of bang for your buck, especially if you’re in the market for house/pet sitters yourself. Pet owners know how hard it is to afford a kennel or impose on friends and family in order to get away, so this site is a safe and practical solution. There’s a lot of competition for attractive sitting opportunities, so apply early and often.
2. Nomador
Another highly regarded house sitting website is Nomador, which features an easy-to-navigate site and boasts thousands of excellent user reviews. There is a bit less of a focus on pet sitting here than on Trusted Housesitters as many properties are vacation homes that need maintenance in the off-season.
Nomador uses a badge system that rates users according to how trustworthy they’ve proven themselves to be, via uploaded identity documents and reviews from completed sitting jobs. This means that it can take a while to build up your profile enough to score great gigs, but the flipside is that it’s a good indicator the people in charge want to keep things above board.
The people listing their homes must complete a “home-book” in advance, which lays out all of the information the sitters will need to meet their expectations; where the spare key is, how often to water the ficus, and all that kind of stuff. Nomador offers all of its perks for $99/yr, or you can choose the “discovery option” that allows you to browse and apply for up to three jobs for free.
3. House Sitting Magazine
It’s not a platform for finding sitting arrangements, but House Sitting Magazine does the valuable work of comparing numerous sites that do offer this service. The site’s authors have extensive experience in the game. They’ve completed about 100 sits and share all kinds of tips and tricks. They even have a six-part course that teaches you how to become an expert house sitter! It’s a good idea to start here and educate yourself before committing to a house sitting site’s membership fee.
Summary:
House swapping and house sitting aren’t arrangements that will work for everyone, but if you think your family is flexible and adaptable enough to embrace the less desirable sides of these experiences, then you’re bound to make some memories along the way. Our advice is to always know exactly what you’re getting into. Speak to your host and ask all of the pertinent questions ahead of time.
If you’re house swapping, review your homeowners insurance and make sure you’re covered if the worst happens when someone else is in charge. Use social media and any other form of website stalking to investigate the people you are sitting for or swapping with. And of course, pay close attention to the reviews they’ve accumulated in their own profiles.
One thing is is for sure…there is plenty of helpful house swapping and sitting advice on the websites listed above, as well as general travel tips. With a little skill and luck, you may just find that dream gig and find yourself playing with puppies by the heated pool at someone’s vacation home for a couple of weeks. Happy hunting!
Lisa Holmes lives in Wellfleet, MA with her husband, toddler and infant. She is a BabyQuip Quality Provider and loves welcoming travelers to Cape Cod. She works as an elementary school teacher, which gives her the opportunity to enjoy lots of time at the beach during her summer vacations!
Excellent article. Very helpful. Thank you!
I’ve been interested in this since the movie The Holiday :)
Such a great idea!