What is home swapping? Here's why more vacationers are doing it
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - There’s a growing number of Americans choosing to swap houses on vacation instead of booking hotels or a short-term rental property, including a St. Petersburg woman who says it’s one of the best ways for her to travel the world.
Why do some prefer home swapping?
What they're saying:
Kathy Clarke has her eyes on a European vacation, recently looking at destinations like Portugal or Norway. But for her, booking a place to stay isn’t as simple as clicking ‘checkout.’
"It’s very hard to find a home that’s going to accept you because you’re not going online and just paying. You are going online and you’re asking someone to welcome you into their home and it’s very different," said Clarke.
Clarke is a member of HomeExchange, a home swapping platform that allows its community to enter each other’s living spaces and swap houses all around the world.

Companies like HomeExchange say they're seeing an increase in vacationers "home swapping."
If you’ve seen the 2006 romantic comedy "The Holiday," then you know the concept. It’s how Kathy heard about it and decided to try for herself four years ago.
"It is not for everybody. Most people, I’m going to say, it is not for everybody," she said.
Her charming yard and welcome sign have now greeted dozens of people into her St. Pete home.

Kathy Clarke says she's welcomed dozens of "swappers" into her St. Pete home.
"I do an interview on FaceTime where I ask them to be in their home and I’m in my home, and I can see their house and I can see their house online to make sure it all matches," said Clarke. "In the beginning, I asked the whole family to show up so I’d get to see everyone. But now that I’ve had such great reviews and I can see everyone’s reviews, I’m much more comfortable and relaxed with the whole thing."
Photos of her living room, kitchen and yard are posted on Clarke’s member profile. She pays one annual fee then accumulates points with every swap, liking the budget-friendly option over paying cash for a hotel or rental.
"We like to travel. So, 28 exchanges in four years, that’s a lot of travel," said Clarke. "We’ve been to Germany, Zion National Park, Alaska, the Hamptons, which is lovely. It’s very expensive to get a place in the Hamptons."
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Growing trend
By the numbers:
The concept isn’t new. A representative for HomeExchange stated its company’s been around for 30 years. The annual membership fee is $220, and the platform has over 200,000 members across 155 countries, with over 26,000 of those in the United States.
"We're seeing it grow year over year quite a bit. I know the concept's been pretty popular in Europe, but it's really starting to make its way here in the U.S.," said Jessica Poillucci, public relations manager at HomeExchange for the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. "Oftentimes, people come back. They stay in touch with the people they exchanged where, you know, they make friends on our Facebook groups and really just build this unique community."
Local perspective:
Poilluci said the vacation trend is making a resurgence, including homes in the Tampa Bay area and Florida.
"We actually saw a 26% increase last year in exchanges in Florida versus the previous year. So, it's definitely growing in popularity," said Poillucci. She added that Florida is HomeExchange’s third most popular destination in the United States and makes up 9% of our total US member-base
Tampa is the 18th most visited destination in Florida for HomeExchange members, and Poillucci said it is rising in popularity with 62% more exchanges in the city during 2024 compared to 2023.
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Some short-term rentals are used on home swap platforms. Sarasota real estate expert Mark Lukes said the market for vacation rental properties has slowed down.
"The idea of a vacation rental property has also slowed a little bit. VRBO and some of the other companies have been struggling a little more, but they seem to have bottomed out already. We're starting to see a lot more vacation rentals start to come on the market," said Lukes, the CEO and founder of Real Estate Mergers and Acquisitions Company, or REMA, in Sarasota.
He said his company is also starting to track a resurgence in property management.
"If you take all of those pieces together, the future looks pretty good for pretty much whether it's house swapping or whether it's just property management and a sort of short-term and long term rentals," said Lukes.
What to know before home swapping
What you can do:
If you’re thinking about home swapping, Lukes said to consider the rules of your neighborhoods.
"Absolutely check with your HOA first, whether you're on a condo or whether you're in a community, single-family home community, you're going to that don't skip that step. Like don't just pretend the HOA is going to just go, ‘Yeah, no worries. Everything's good.’ That can cause you some issues," said Lukes.
Once you’re good to go in your neighborhood, Clarke said nailing down a date to swap isn’t always easy.
"I have to do a lot of requests, sometimes 40 or 50 requests, for example, in the Hamptons before someone says those dates are available and I agree," said Clarke.
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She said she leaves a welcome package and a gift for whoever she swaps with at her house. She added that the process of home swapping is a more personal experience, and you can become friends with some of the members.
"It’s kind of more like mi casa, su casa, right? You have to have that kind of attitude in order to pull it off," said Clarke.
She said she views it like a family member coming to stay.
The Source: This story was written with information collected by FOX 13's Briona Arradondo.
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