Lay My Hat Forum

Mountain Goat

New Year resolutions (and Brit winter weather) have led us to plan leaving the UK for a year and live in Switzerland (or nearby France) rent/exchange our UK home, do neither, do both etc.

Can anyone recommend a good Home Exchange site? We've tried HomeExchange.com with interesting results, and expanding our listing as they also accept rental listings as well (albeit at extra expense, but only $30 a kick). They've got 14,000+ listings which is a start, and appear to produce good traffic (plus links allowed) - pleasant admin to deal with as well and superb uploading system.

Can anyone recommend another site for home exchange?

Downside with these outfits could be having to deal politely with other owners who totally ignore what/when you want and come up with interesting alternative ideas, and why not?

Full details of what we want when we know what we want and Mrs G / Dog / myself can agree (not easy), in case any of you lot fancy Sussex or the Swiss Alps for 9-12 months.

MG

Giddy Goat · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:51 am Post subject:

Hi Mountie - wasn't it fun running into each other in Switzerland?! Very Happy

Can't help with home exchange sites, but out of pure self-interest, wondered (as others may well be doing when they read of this site) if the rental section is for longer term lets or includes a holiday section? 30€ is a bit of a snip!

Good luck with your inquiries - who knows where you'll end up if an advertiser has particularly persuasive powers! Just be sure you have good grazing though, and space for the rest of the clan.
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Mountain Goat · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:17 pm Post subject:

Hi GG, I think on that site the way they do it is to use their internal search engine to differentiate between the types of property. But you have double entries (and double the exposure I guess) for one property which is both rental and exchange - not sure, but still investigating. It's good that they're laid back about links. Incredible value, especially the exposure to all those 1,000s of N. Americans heading for Europe.

MG

Hi Mountie - wasn't it fun running into each other in Switzerland?!
Mmm, yes! Cool

Mrs G still can't get over it when I told her...... Wink

must have been the LMH T-shirt...

Giddy Goat · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:25 pm Post subject:

Thanks MG, perhaps I should have a look; not ready for a home exchange though, much as I love the idea.

Bellywobble · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 1053 Location: costa del sol

I use www.homeforexchange.com
They have an offer at the moment, of a six month bonus when you join.
We've had some lovely offers, I just wish we could use them all!

HelenB · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 7758 Location: Serre Chevalier

I tried swapandstay.com

Overboard · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:08 pm Post subject:

HomeExchange.com currently have a 'treasure hunt' going on. If you enter Rose Hill Cottage in the coupon box they deduct $20. I think it may only be for new listings as it didn't work on my renewal though.
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Mountain Goat · Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:23 pm Post subject:

HelenB

I found SwapandStay a bit of an outsider:

No chance of viewing what's available (most of these sites allow you to view all properties, without contact details until you become a member).

No clue as to how many properties listed though judging by their press releases they may not have reached 1,000.

No sample listing page (their link to Listing Examples is not a page of listing examples).

No guarantee at all.

At £50 / year - expensive (in terms of cost per property advertised, the highest?).

Not impressed myself, but were you?

MG

Michele Akester · Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 1

Hello,

I have just joined the forum and saw the posting about home exchange. I know a great holiday home exchange website called Select Exchange, if anyone is interested. The website is xxxxxxxxx and it is currently offering free joining and first year membership to get it going. Think it is usually £150.00 lifetime joining + annual membership of £95.00 for the first property and £50.00 for each additional property. So far exchange destinations include Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Florida and St Lucia... sounds good, don't you think?!

Mountain Goat · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:49 pm Post subject:

sounds good, don't you think?

Actually, Michele (and a warm welcome to LMH) it sounds pretty terrible, when for a fraction of the cost one can join several other outfits offering 10's of thousands of properties from hundreds of countries.

Good try though.

BTW, it would be a bit of a coincidence I know, but you're not the same Michele who answers the 'phone at SelectExchange? Laughing

MG

paolo · Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 3346 Location: Provence, France

HelenB · Joined: 30 Apr 2005 Posts: 7758 Location: Serre Chevalier

MG, I didn't pay a penny for my listing on there. I have had one enquiry from a Canadian guy who had a rather nice condo in Canmore,near Banff, but he wouldn't let us go there for a week in the ski season, as he wanted to stay at ours in the summer, so I said no to the exchange. Nothing more since, but I occasionally get a click-through listed on my webstats.

Mountain Goat · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:59 pm Post subject:

OK, I apologise for being so horrible.

But, Paolo, you don't think it might be fun to have an LMH section totally reserved for blatant pluggers? I mean, it must be really tedious joining a forum, and having to be meek, humble and nice to everyone for six months before pimping whatever one has to flog?

Just a thought.

MG

Mouse · Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 3224 Location: Ibiza, Balearics

We could call it the 'shameless publicity' thread.

Actually that was the title of our 'round robin' email to every single person we knew when we'd finally got the house ready for renting!

On thread - OD now has a section for adding your swap preferences.

Mouse
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paolo · Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 3346 Location: Provence, France