Advertisement
By swapping your home, you can stay in amazing places all over the world for free.
Would you let complete strangers in your home while you’re away? Let them sleep in your bed, feed your dog, drive your car? The thought makes some squirm, but others just can’t resist the lure of incredibly cheap vacations. After all, for the price of a little trust—letting someone stay in your home while you stay in theirs—you get much more than a cold, impersonal hotel room. “You get multiple rooms and a full kitchen,” says Dennis Chobetar, co-founder of Global Home Exchange in Nanaimo, B.C. “Plus you get to live the lifestyle of the people you’re exchanging with, sometimes right down to socializing with their friends.”
If you like the idea of an almost-free holiday, there are countless home-exchange websites from which to choose. HomeForExchange.com boasts more than 13,000 listings, charges a yearly $60 fee and requires you to list your home as a prerequisite for membership. Other sites, such as Global Home Exchange (2,000 listings), have no fee, but charge to advertise your home in their online directory.
Suneel Khanna, a Toronto-based communications professional, found his home exchange opportunity through the popular website Craigslist. “We had just closed on a new house, and thought we might have to forego our vacation that year because of the cost,” Khanna recalls. “Instead, I decided to check Craigslist to see if I could find something cheap in Florida, and stumbled across someone looking to exchange homes.” If you want to give home swapping a try, here are some Dos and Don’ts to get you going:
Do: give your home a good cleaning and undertake any obvious repairs before your guests move in.
Do: leave a list of instructions detailing where household items are located, and how things like pool heaters and filters work.
Do: apply common courtesy. “If you use up the dish soap, replace it,” says Chobetar. “If you break something, leave money behind to cover the cost. If you use their car, leave a full tank of gas.”
Don’t: worry, be happy. “There’s a kind of granola, feel-good vibe about house swapping,” says Khanna. “You trust them with your property—and they’ll do the same thing for you.” M
Share this article Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Share on Reddit Share on Email
We outline the movies and shows available on each streaming service, plus the cost, number of users and other...
What does 2025 have in store for Canadian investors? Who knows. But there are some trends to keep an...
Parents, here are the CCB payment dates for 2025, along with how much you can expect to receive each...
Whether they come with an annual fee or not, these cards will put money back in your pocket.
American Express is an iconic credit card brand, known for rewards. We’ve picked the best cards available to Canadians.
Visa offers a wide array of credit cards and benefits, making it easy to find one that works for...
From redeemable points to cold hard cash, these rewards credit cards offer big returns on your everyday spending.
If you’re looking for near-universal acceptance, look no further than a Mastercard. We’ve rounded up its best credit cards...
Find the credit cards in Canada that offer the most rewards and the lowest fees, based on the latest...
These impressive Canadian travel credit cards can help turn your everyday spending into flights, hotels and more.