Vacation home exchanges

Feb 6, 2007 | No Responses

This information is from the book “Road Map to your Vacation Property Dream” by  Christopher Cain and is reprinted with his permission.

You’re thinking about buying a vacation condo.  You hesitate because you do not want to lock yourself into vactioning at the same spot for the rest of your life.  It’s like picking a favorite movie (e.g. Casablanca or Gone With the Wind) and then having to watch it 30 or 50 times.  No, thank you!

Vacationing at the same spot year after year may become monotonous, no matter how beautiful the resort.

But, take heart.  Vacation exchange provides a nifty solution.  It’s easy to expand your vacation horizons by trading places.  Vacation exchange allows you to trade a vacation at your property for a vacation wherever you can locate one and convince the owner to trade.

Why not trade your vacation in Aspen for a week at a condominium in Aruba?  Or trade a week of golf at Pinehurst for a week of skiing in northern Italy.  Summer sun on the French Riviera….skiing in Colorado…deep-sea fishing on the Gulf of Mexico…vacationing in London, Hong Kong, or New York.  These and thousands of other locations are available to those who join teh world of vacation home exchange.  Thousands of people exchange their homes every year and see their dream vactions come true.

But how do you find other owners willing to trade?  It’s not hard because about 6 million Americans own properties across the U.S. and in other countries.  And owners from other countries maintain vacation properties around the world.  In the U.S., there are roughly 4 million wholly-owned vacation properties and slightly less than 2 million households owning a timeshare.

There are also several organizations specializing in exchange services that will arrange trades for you:

Vacation Exchange Club, PO Box 820, Haleiwa, HI 96712

International Home Exchange (U.S. Affiliate of INTERVAC International), Po Box 190070, San Fransisco, CA 94119

Vacation Link, PO Box 76350, Atlanta, GA 30358, 1-800-750-0797

Each of these organizations publishes one or more directories each year, listing thousands of properties in the U.S., Canada, and countries around the world whose owners are interested in a home exchange.  Annual subscription fees run from $45 to $60, depending on the organization and whether or not you wish to list your property.

I, Joanne Hanson, have not used these exchanges, and pass along this information with no endorsements or recommendations.  Please give me your opinion if you use them, as I would like to know about your experience.