Although I realize that we all bought our vacation rental properties to RENT them, sometimes you get stuck looking a week in the eye and realizing that there is no way you are going to get a paying renter in there.
Although our 2/2 condo in Blind Pass Condominiums on Sanibel Island has performed very well in the ten years we have owned it, we have had an empty week here or there.
And our 3/2 vacation rental home on Sanibel, Toucan House, always has empty months as it is a 28 day minimum rental (mandated as such), not so easy to keep occupied off season at any reasonable rate.
I market both properties extensively, but sometimes not even all my exposure, good customer service and well kept condo or home prevails. It becomes abundantly clear that I am going to have an empty week or empty month. I then go into a home exchange mode in many instances.
We have swapped both properties for non simultaneous exchanges in Europe (Italy, France, Croatia, Spain) as well as in the USA (California, South and North Carolina, Arizona) and feel we are much ahead for the trade. If you have not checked out the prices of modest hotels in European capitals, you will find that they run $300 and more (sometimes much more) a night. The same holds true for nice resort areas in the USA.
And, quite honestly, having a whole house or large apartment—-if you research, ask questions and negotiate successfully—-is considerably more comfortable than a hotel room. Our own renters in the condo and house would certainly agree with that statement.
So if the inevitable is about to come crashing down on you, a “dark house” can still be bartered for something of great worth. You just need to get creative.
Right now, and atypical for us, our condo on Sanibel is open for Christmas week, December 20. So I am doing my last minute dance to find a non-simultaneous exchange on the several home exchange sites we belong to.
Of course, if a renter comes along, I will rent the unit even at a discounted price, but seeking an exchange is a good way to hedge your bets and come out a winner!
Great post Sylvia, thanks for that.
For those of you that decide to rent your vacation home rentals at discounted prices, look for vacation rental websites that allow you to post an “Owner’s Special”, or something like that. For example, on our vacation rental website, we have a special feature that allows vacation rental owners to post owner’s specials on a special section on our site. If you decide to run an owner’s special, make sure you put phrases in all of your online advertisements such as “discount vacation rentals” or “cheap vacation rentals”. While those terms may not have the best sound, they are very popular search terms on Google, and you will increase your exposure through Google if you use those terms in your online ad description text. I wrote a post on this blog about that topic here.
Jon Ludwig
Owner, FindVacationRentals.com
Hi, Sylvia –
I enjoyed reading your post about using a “home exchange” to fill open weeks at your vacation rentals. Which, by the way, are gorgeous. Your photos are good enough to grace the pages of National Geographic or Coastal Living!
I’d be interested to know if you (and other readers of this blog) have a favorite home-exchange site to recommend — one that you’ve used and have found to be especially good.
We’re putting together a list of home-exchange sites for our FullyBookedRentals “Vacation Rental Resources Guide” (http://www.vacationrentalresources.com) and would love to get your opinion, based on first-hand experience.
Here’s our current list of established home-exchange sites that get good reviews:
o ExchangeHomes (http://www.exchangehomes.com)
o HomeExchange (http://www.homeexchange.com)
o iTravex (http://www.itravex.com)
o Seniors Home Exchange (http://www.seniorshomeexchange.com)
o Vacation Exchange Network (http://www.thevacationexchange.com)
o Sabbatical Homes (http://www.sabbaticalhomes.com)
Anyone have experiences to report with these sites (good, bad, or indifferent), or have others to recommend?
Cheers,
Emily Glossbrenner
FullyBookedRentals
http://www.fullybookedrentals.com
Hi Sylvia
I am so glad to hear that you are using home exchange as a great way to use your vacation rental properties for your own accomodation when travelling during those periods when you are unable to rent them. We all have to make the most of what we have and think creatively, especially during a time of economic downturn worldwide.
I was also pleased to see from her comment that Emily is compiling a list of home exchange sites for her ‘Vacation Rental Resources Guide’. It is a good idea to include only long established agencies with a good reputation as unfortunately there are many start-up sites every year that often disappear without trace a few months later. I would only like to suggest to Emily, and all vacation property owners interested in home exchange, that you also look beyond US based sites. If you are looking for an exchange abroad, it generally pays to look for established agencies based in the country you plan to visit for the best choice of exchange offers there.
Our own home exchange agency, Home Base Holidays, has been operating from London since 1985. We now also operate a home exchange service for the Guardian newspaper group, providing even more attractive exchange offers throughout the UK and worldwide. With the pound sterling dropping dramatically in value against other currencies, including the US dollar, in the last few weeks (very alarming if you live here!), this is a great time to arrange an exchange to the UK.
I also publish a blog, Travel the Home Exchange Way, for regular information about home exchange. I will include a link to your post on the blog shortly as I believe your ideas on using vacation rental properties for exchange will be of interest to some of our visitors and members. If you, or any of your readers, have ideas for other ways we might cross promote rentals and home exchange, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Cheers,
Lois Sealey
Home Base Holiays, London
We’ve done this on several occasions with unbooked weeks. It’s a great way to save money for our own holidays.
There’s also 1st Home Exchange. They have homes for swap in 130 countries. And worth a look at if you are considering France, as they seem to have a rather large selection all over France.
Something to keep in mind is that most of these sites are exclusively home exchange sites and if you try to advertise your home as a rental, they will remove your listing. So make sure your text advertises your home exchange offer an not your rental.
It is great to hear vacation home renters talking about considering a vacation home exchange as an alternative when faced with unrented weeks. Many of the members in our vacation home exchange network do just that — trade an unused week in their home for a vacation at one of our 1,500 properties in the US and internationally.
Our home exchange program has been in business for 13 years, and we have arranged thousands of home swaps. We are finding that this economy is inspiring home owners to use their properties in savvy ways, and home swaps are one great example of this — using their own vacation homes to enable them to vacation around the world for a fraction of the cost of traditional travel.
We’d love for you to check out The Vacation Exchange Network. You’ll find a unique home exchange program, where membership is free for the first year, we arrange the exchange for you if you’d like, and you can stay in someone else’s home even if they do not want to stay in your home.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Jill
The Vacation Exchange Network