Replying to a fellow swapper
Someone contacted me now what?
Congratulations! You received your first swap request.
The first thing to do is to get back to the other swapper. It’s always nice to let them know if your interested in their location as soon as possible.
Let them know if your interested
If your interested in their location, ask them for a link to their home swap listing. They can simply copy and paste this from their browser and send it to you.
If your not interested in doing the swap simply let them know politely with something like “Hey thanks for contacting us, unfortunately we’re not ready to travel to canada yet, when we are we will definitely contact you though.”
Have a nice long chat...
Now you have broken the ice and you’re both interested in swapping it’s time to have a chat together. We highly recommend using a service like Whatsapp video chat to do this. This will give you a chance to get to know each other, as well as give each other a tour of your lovely homes. It’s a win-win really.
You will probably find that you have a few chats to work out the details of your swap, including flights, dates and so forth.
Ok, we've talked and we're ready to swap
Now that your ready to swap you’re going to need to nail down a few details with the other swapper. We recommend using our swapping checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything important and providing each other with your home manuals. Other than that, have a few more video chats, a couple of emails and make sure you know where the key is going to be. Most important of all, have a great vacation!
Pro Tip: I love the location but the house isn't as big as mine.
Just because a house isn’t comparable to your own doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t swap. In fact it’s probably one of the best reasons to swap! Living for a short time in a different city means that there are different factors that determine a homes value.
A great example is a lovely large home in Atlanta may not be comparable in size to that of a London flat. However, the experience of seeing Big Ben and then returning to a cozy flat can’t be replaced with a large living room.
Home swapping is about doing a deal, saving some money and making wonderful memories. Don’t get too caught up in the little things.