We love hearing about your experiences on HomeSwapper – it’s always great to know when you’ve found your new home! When letting us know that you’ve swapped, many of you also share good tips for other swappers out there. Here, Angela* (*not her real name) gives her advice on going through the swapping process.

“I have successfully swapped twice through HomeSwapper now, both short and long distance. Having gone through the process I feel it would be helpful to explain to subscribers the difference between dabbling and ‘serious about swapping’.

In my experience, if you are serious about swapping you should be:

• If working, be holding annual leave ready for a move
• Be willing to move within 2-3 months (2 for straight swaps, 3 for MultiSwaps)
• Have sufficient rent for the new property (usually 4 weeks in advance)
• If moving out of the area you should have a job lined up or the money to get you through the first few weeks – you could be asked for this or proof of it, especially if you are on Universal Credit
• Have researched the costs of moving to ensure you can afford that
• Be sure you really want the property, if you are still looking at other properties, then maybe that one is not for you
• Be prepared to compromise – even if you were buying a property, it would be unlikely to tick every box
• Be honest with the person/people you are swapping with, if you have doubts then tell them and hold off making a commitment

As well as these points, don’t be critical of another property. In one case, a lady described the property she wanted me to look at in a 3-way swap as a ‘tip’, so not good enough for her but good enough for someone else – she was also criticising my potential new home. This behaviour does not win you friends and in a swap, you need to build up/develop a level of trust in each other that you will commit to the move.

Serious about moving should mean serious about moving. I have been contacted by people who haven’t decided if they want to move yet – in that case, they are not serious about moving, they are dabbling!

I hope this may be of help, often people are not aware of the process they need to go through. If a swap falls through, it can be quite traumatic and it is easy for someone to lose trust/become cynical.”

Thank you Angela for sharing your advice with other swappers out there. If you’re looking on HomeSwapper, it’s worth having these points in mind when you’re searching. It’s easy to let other swappers know if you’re serious about swapping or just looking. In the registration process you’ll be asked which of these you are, so have a think and choose wisely! Nothing is set in stone though – you can always change this later down the line.

Best of luck in your search swappers!

The HomeSwapper Customer Support team are always on hand to give advice and tips on how to get the most from HomeSwapper. They deal with Swappers every day and have a unique insight and view on the thousands of successful swaps that take place on HomeSwapper.