There are clear reasons why fees arenât allowed on Homeexchange. The idea of exchanging is to allow exchanges that have no financial transactions. If there are fees then the exchanges can be considered the same way as short term rentals,and have to abide by the same rules. Some local governments have banned ( or tried to ban) exchanges as they consider them to be like rentals ( eg Amsterdam and Edinburgh). The defense against this by exchange sites is that there is no financial transaction. This is why the no fees rule is so strict and must be adhered to.
When exchanging the idea is to swap one holiday opportunity for another. If you live in Greenland and you widh to exchange in Tuscany you leave your home as if you were living in it, which means you would have heating. You benefit from a home in Tuscany while someone enjoys your home as guests in Greenland. You wouldnât expect guests to pay for heating during their stay.
HE doesnât âpoliceâ every variable. They have a clear chart of how exchanges can be done on their site which members agree to when they join. Members who try to impose their own way of exchanging just put the site at risk for all the other members. When exchanging it is necessary to understand and accept that the concept is completely different to renting.
Your response makes sense only if Iâm exchanging the home I live in myself.
So many of us have holiday homes which we also exchange. Those homes require staff to handle check-in, check-out, cleaning and anything that may come up. These are all âextra feesâ that would not exist if I was living there myself (your example).
Utilities: Unless held accountable, guests would leave on every air conditioner in every room and be careless to turn them off when they leave for the beach. The H.E. suggestion to be conscientious just isnât realistic.
All in all, over a monthâs time, a H.E. guest could rack up over 600 dollars of âexta feesâ in a month that wouldnât be there if I was living there myself.
Hello Kalkarman,
Iâd like to add to Susanâs point, it is not only local governments but also a myriad of condo corporations that could and do try to ban home exchanging. The more HE becomes financial in nature, the more it is at risk.
I have seen many members who enjoy HE write here on the forum for clarities on the legal status and seeking help to challenge their condo boards.
In the context of a reciprocal exchange, I donât buy your argument that you are âabsentâ from your secondary/vacation home and, hence, that justifies you charging a greet & clean fee. I also have a secondary home BTW. Those who host you likely clean themselves, in order to host you. Are you saying their time and effort should be free to you, but you can charge them because your reality is that you must hire someone? The idea is to exchange ⌠That is your reality, it should not become someone elseâs burden to carry.
In the case of GP exchanges, as you say, cleaning fees are there and other members can choose to request your home or not. I am with you on that one.
There are many Intelligent Home technologies to address your concerns, lighting and shower hot water on timers, thermostats that can be controlled remotely, blocked thermostats set at a reasonable temperature (whenever we host Americans, they use AC even in May and September, and all day, that and ice cubes )
I would suggest, if you are so concerned about the risks with utility fees, that you reasonably increase your âgreet and cleanâ fee, as a discreet insurance against careless use. Those who agree to your fees, will request your home.
One caveat, the more some members feel they âpaidâ for your home, the more they may feel âentitledâ to do everything. I strive not to attract that crowd, personally.
Best
Thanks Denis & Andre, no Iâm not saying that. Iâm saying that every property should put their âextra feesâ according to their circumstance. So I would pay a cleaning fee, electricity, concierge etc. where I choose to stay, and vice versa.
Even with H.E.'s points calculation, the equivalence is not there when it comes to such costs.
The core idea of ânot charging rentâ is still there. But asking owners to pay out of pocket as well is a step too far for me (given that the home I exchange with may not have such costs for the owner to cover).
Either be consistent: no charges allowed at all. Or allow owners to delineate âextra feesâ bespoke to their circumstance. Right now H.E. policy is somewhere in the middle which doesnât make any sense.
H.E. âunpublishedâ my property because I ask for utilities reimbursement (and yes, I have done every tech thing possible to keep costs down - solar panels, etc.).
So I ask for all âextra feesâ to be banned without exception, or realise that each property is different (as H.E. writes, but doesnât follow through on).
And regarding condo boards, or difficultly with some municipalities. Thatâs to be expected for any global platform and shouldnât pull everyone down as a result.
Hello. I think we should not charge anything!!! not even cleaning. Maybe in Tuscany heating is not necessary, but maybe the owners pay high taxes. In Greenland maybe the owners do not pay taxes. I donât know. But we canât put all the expenses we have. Let the exchange be only for GP, not with money.
Great! I agree. Either no extras at all, or allow owners to list expenses.
Currently cleaning expenses are allowed.
Cleaning in Manhattan is more than in Cambodia.
Utilities are more in Greenland than Tuscany.
So the logic should be the same. If allowing cleaning expenses, then allow utility expenses, (and anything else particular to any given property since guest point calculation canât figure every variable).
Hi kalkarman: Hi. This is what I wrote when the taxes were being debated: I think that cleaning fees should not be charged to guests, but should be paid by the hosts. The guest would have a cheaper vacation. The host will then be a guest, remember. In my opinion, the exchange becomes more equitable. Someone commented that they should charge $140 in the United States for cleaning. In Argentina the cost can be $20. This distorts the concept of reciprocity, related to the allocation of GP. A house in Argentina and another in the United States with the same characteristics âIt cost" 200 GP, but in one I will have to pay $140 and in the other $20.
Cleaning in Manhattan costs certainly more than in CAmbodia, as you say, but salaries in Manhattan are much higher than in CAmbodia, too. So the cost for every family to clean their own home is in line with their salaries. This is why I also think that there should not be any fees at all, because they are not fair.
I also have air conditioning for my guests, as I live in a hot country. Moreover, I specifically installed it for their comfort, as Iâm used to hot climates. I did it to ensure theyâre comfortable while staying at my home.
From my point of view, home swapping isnât about counting every last penny. If thatâs your focus, itâs better to simply rent your flat and use the money to fund your travels. Home swapping is more about finding a place to call home for your holidays and being hosted by a family that will help you make the most of your stay. Itâs not about whether you spend on air conditioning, the number of travelers, or the value of your furniture.
In my opinion, assigning points to homes â while it may make it easier to find a place compared to reciprocal swaps without GP â has been a disaster. It has introduced the concept of âthe valueâ of a home in usersâ minds, making it seem like youâre âpayingâ for a home. People didnât think this way in the past, when GP didnât exist. We swapped really small flats for our bigger homes, hosted large families while maybe traveling with just one or two people, and lent/borrowed cars, sports gear, etc.
So, Iâm afraid that HE might not be what you were truly looking for.
We do both, GP and reciprocal, as itâs each time more difficult to find reciprocal home swaps, which is a pitty, from my point of view.
I would also prefer that HE did not accept cleaning fees at all-
We would much rather pay for cleaning than spend 2 hours scrubbing a house before a full day of travel. Not a great way to start the day. We ask our guests to contribute âŹ50 for the cleaner, but we cover her full costs as itâs worth it to us to have the place looked after. This is especially helpful if we have 2 or 3 different families staying in our home while weâre away. Sometimes guests are in a hurry when they are leaving or donât have quite the same standard of clean - our final guests last summer didnât water the plants enough and a few plants died. Itâs going to happen.
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