How It Works

Home exchange is surprisingly simple! You exchange your home with that of another member -- you stay in their home at the same time while they're staying in yours. The majority of exchanges are simultaneous but if a second home is involved, travel schedules sometimes are more flexible.

As soon as you register, members will see your listing and you theirs, and members contact one another directly to set up exchanges. There are no financial transactions between members - ever. You can exchange as many times as you like during your selected membership period.

Whether you own or rent, and whether your home is an apartment, cottage, villa, or second home - you can exchange your home very easily.

Our program is as simple as can be -- you register and have unlimited access to our database.  No credit systems, point programs, fees per swaps -- nor any other complicated schemes


Why Exchange?


Comforts of home

Hotel rooms seem to get smaller as the vacation gets longer. And after two weeks, they can seem very small indeed. Imagine being able to come "home" instead after a long day of sightseeing. You can go to the refrigerator for a cool drink, or you can sit in the garden or patio wearing whatever you please.

Your home away from home becomes a comfortable base from which you can explore the region. Don't live your vacation out of a suitcase in a cramped hotel room ever again!

Amenities

Our homes are often fully equipped with all the basics you would need during course of a visit -- cookware, bedding, towels, toys, games and entertainment systems, movie rooms, libraries and more. Many homes offer private outdoor play areas, hot tubs, pools and private gardens/conservatories.

More space

You will have more space than a hotel room. Usually a whole house! Enjoy private bedrooms, bathrooms, family rooms, a home office and more. Most exchange lodgings offer a combination of both private and common space which -- especially for a family -- makes for a very comfortable vacation.

Save money

With no lodging expenses, fewer restaurant bills,y and no room service expenses, you can easily save thousands of dollars on an exchange as short as two weeks. See the world affordably!

Community

Wherever you exchange, you are part of a new community simply by living there temporarily, you will learn from your new neighbors and friends -- and they from you. We are all enriched by being a participant in a community -- not a hotel-based observer.

Many home exchangers become lifelong friends with their exchange partners as well as with their new neighbors.

Green

Making use of space which would otherwise be left unoccupied is a form of sharing, conservation and is the ultimate form of green accommodation. Travel soundly without contributing to the consumerist hotel development throughout the world.


Why InventedCity?

  • InventedCity began in 1991 and has been a home exchange advocate for 15 years.
  • InventedCity members are highly motivated travellers who pay a nominal fee to participate in our program. (In other words, we do not permit anyone with web access to contact you. Casual, public web surfers will not deluge you with informal exchange offers, 'couchsurfing', B&B and room-share offers!)
  • We do not create artificially huge databases by endless free offers to sign up anyone with a remote and passing interest in home exchange.
  • We do not inflate our database by offering lifetime memberships popular among other clubs. (There is nothing more frustrating than trying to arrange a swap to Paris only to discover most of the members joined 5 years ago and are no longer interested in swapping.)
  • We are exchangers ourselves and planning on more exchanges!
  • InventedCity is a founding member of First Home Exchange Alliance (FHEA). By joining InventedCity you automatically enjoy all listings of our FHEA partners.