Share the post "Is home swapping better than standard platforms from home-sharing industry?"
Home swapping was first introduced by a company named “Love Home Swap” founded in 2011, it has already around 0.5 milion members all around the globe in around 150 countries. Love Home Swap is a home exchange platform that allows to swap accommodations between users for vacation. To a certain extent it is similar to other home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com, however, you don’t rent homes but swap them with other members. I first heard about this option couple of months ago and I was surprised, so I wanted to seek further information about this topic and that’s what `I’ll do in this blog.
Let’s start with explaining the details of how it actually works. First you’ll need to sign up and you will get 2 weeks of free trial. After that period if you like it, you can pick from 3 different subscription plans: Lite (9€/month), Standard (11€/month), Platinum (13€/month). Then you can create a listing for your home and search for homes that you would like to stay in. Once you make a match with an other member of this platform, you can arrange the agreement for the swap. This includes choosing dates of the exchange, regulations, eventual surcharge and other details. When all of that is done you can book flights and enjoy your vacation.
First positive aspect of such solution is the cost saving. Instead of renting an apartment, home or other accommodations you can just swap places with other members. This method can save you hundreds and thousands of dollars on your holidays.
Furthermore, it has other benefits like, for instance, you can often find a place that is more spacious and comfortable than a traditional hotel room. Additionally, because users are staying in someone else’s home, they can get a more authentic and local travel experience, as well as the opportunity to live like a local in another city or country. A lot of people while traveling want to get to know the culture of the country in this way you can experience it to the fullest.
On the other hand, Love Home Swap does not have as many members as other platforms from home-sharing industry. This can make it more difficult for users to find a home exchange that fits their specific needs and preferences. Also it requires a subscription fee, on the contrary to other platforms.
Another negative aspect is the difficulty of coordinating of dates for the swap or the lack of protection and instant support from the platform. Airbnb, for example, have a host guarantee and host protection insurance. Thus, this means that if something is broken during the stay, Love Home Swap will not provide financial protection and everything depends on you and what do you agree in the swap arrangement. This can be a big risk because you don’t know people that you let to stay at your home.
In conclusion, Love Home Swap is a home exchange platform that offers many benefits such as cost savings and flexibility. However, there are also downsides to using the platform, such as it may not have as many members as some of the other home exchange platforms, coordinating dates with other members can become difficult and it also requires a subscription fee. Additionally, it does not offer the same level of protection and support as other home-sharing platforms, so members should be more aware of their own insurance.
In my opinion, it’s a great solution for cheap vacations, however, you need to be comfortable with letting “strangers” live in your home. It certainly bring risk of typical renting damage but it has less assurance than other platforms in this case. That is a big disadvantage for me and I will maybe consider such an option in the future but now I will stick to standard house-sharing platforms.
Thank you for you’re attention, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-swap-homes-with-love-home-swap-2015-5?IR=T
https://www.youtube.com/@Lovehomeswap
Love Home Swap is definitely an interesting idea! If I had some summer home I would definitely use it, but with all of the fees and a bit uncertain security, I will stay and observe how those home-sharing platforms will evolve. Thanks for the idea!