Southland Homeowners Vacation Rent-Free by Exchanging Homes With Families Around the World

Marjorie and Victor Rose felt right at home on their vacation in Stuttgart, Germany. In fact, the retired Culver City couple stayed in a home in a Stuttgart suburb, relaxing after sightseeing and enjoying home-cooked meals. On Victor’s birthday, a neighbor even brought over a cake.

Meanwhile, the owners of the Roses’ vacation getaway were taking in the Southern California sunshine--and staying in the Roses’ two-bedroom home.

The Roses had arranged for a home exchange, in which two homeowners agree to trade houses for their vacations. The Roses have also visited England and France this way.

Besides saving the often-steep cost of a hotel, staying in a home allows visitors to explore their vacation area at a more relaxed pace, experiencing daily life like the natives. “It gets you off the beaten tourist track,” said Marjorie Rose, “I don’t like going any other way. It allows us to do things at our own pace. We get to meet people. Basically, it’s great!”

Every year, hundreds of Southern California homeowners like the Roses are vacationing rent-free by participating in a home exchange. Although some folks may be packing up and leaving Los Angeles, the area continues to be a coveted vacation spot, particularly by residents of cold-climate countries such as England and Germany.

Angelenos are notorious snobs about where they live, boasting of their exclusive ZIP code, hilltop house or beachfront view. But to shivering Europeans, if the sun is shining, it’s a good location.

“This is a super home exchange location,” said Dennis Huckaby of Palm Desert. “And I’m 125 miles from anything. I had people from Paris who wanted to do a month exchange in August.”

To many Europeans, the ubiquitous Southern California swimming pool is “a real novelty,” said Huckaby, who’s traded in Hawaii, London and Munich. “I’ve got (a pool) right outside my front door. People from Central Europe are in it like kids. These are bodies that have never seen the sun.”

Carl and Sandra Hathaway, whose Sunland home also has a pool, are frequent exchangers who swapped in London and five U.S. states. He said his location is fine for people already familiar with the L.A. area. “They’d seen the touristy things,” he said of an English family they traded with. “I guess they came for the weather. I think you can find matches, no matter where you live.”

While natives fight rush-hour traffic to work, vacationers can drive at off-hours, making all of Southern California accessible. To a German family who swapped with Debbie and Randy Yanaga of Costa Mesa, “we’re close to Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and the beach,” she said.

Yanaga’s favorite swap was with a family in Norwich, England. “It was right on a river, and our son could lean out the window and feed the ducks and swans. It was just incredible.”

Home exchanging is a big plus when traveling with children, Yanaga said, because “you have a base to move from. Basically, if we didn’t exchange, we wouldn’t be able to go, because the costs would be prohibitive.”

Finding that perfect vacation swap involves joining an exchange group, sending letters to prospective traders and replying to those who inquire about your home. Several organizations publish books of participating swappers in the U.S. and around the globe.

“You can qualify people over the phone,” said Huckaby of Palm Desert. “I look for camaraderie, a sense of humor. By the time I’m through with the conversation, I have a good idea whether these people and I would get along, and if we do, I presume we have similar tastes.”

Some home exchangers really get acquainted with prospective swappers. “We tend to build up a relationship in the months between the initial contact and the time they arrive, so we feel like we sort of know them by the time they’re in our house,” Yanaga said. “We’ve built up a friendship with most of these people and remained in touch, so now we have contacts in these places.”

Although most exchangers report no problems, it does pay to be on the lookout for the smooth talker trying to swap a two-bedroom condo for your six-bedroom estate.

“Only once have I made a colossal mistake,” said Marjorie Rose. “I ran up against a fellow who was a great salesman. With the description he gave of his Colorado mountain home, I was ashamed to even have him come to my house.” The Roses--who regularly swap in Denver to attend high school reunions--discovered the Rocky Mountain paradise was actually tiny, filthy and had no telephone. “Obviously, I wasn’t listening very carefully,” she admitted.

Though theft is a concern to new swappers, old hands say it’s simply not a problem. “I don’t put anything away,” said Rose, who like many swappers, is a retired senior citizen. “After all, you’re in their house, so they have to trust you, too.”

“We don’t have great valuables,” said Carl Hathaway of Sunland. “We didn’t lock up anything. People ask, ‘Didn’t you feel funny having people come in your house and using your things?’ But it hasn’t been a problem.”

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Once you’ve found the perfect match, preparing your own home for the vacationers’ arrival involves cleaning up, making room and leaving some helpful hints.

“Make some space in the closets and leave maybe four drawers empty,” Rose recommended. “I have a book of instructions that tells how to run the appliances, where to go to the market, the bus schedules.” Also to be agreed upon are how many people are coming and whether smoking is allowed.

“You try to leave a map of the area, recommended restaurants--what you’d want if you went to an area you weren’t familiar with,” Huckaby said.

“We basically just clean it and make sure it looks nice for people coming in,” Debbie Yanaga said. “We consider them to be our guests in a way, so we just spruce things up.”

If you’re wondering who will take care of the family dog while you’re on an exchange vacation, sometimes you can arrange for your swap partners to do it. “We loved the dog at one place,” said Huckaby. “We sent the dog a present when we got home.”

Kathy Laughlin of San Pedro elected to shave a day off her trip and stay home to meet the German family who took up residence in her three-bedroom townhouse. It turned out to be an interesting cultural exchange. “I showed them the key to the pool and took the wife shopping,” she said. “They wanted to know where our grocery bags were, because over there they charge you for bags!”

Laughlin also swapped cars with the Germans. “I left instructions on keys and permission to use the car,” she said. People offering cars in their exchange must make sure they have car insurance coverage for such a situation.

You don’t have to own a lavish estate to participate in a house swap, Laughlin learned. “The German house was very similar to ours,” she recalled, “a split-level townhouse with shared walls.”

The Roses also found their two-bedroom home perfectly desirable. “Last summer someone in the south of France wanted to exchange,” she said. “But we’d already been there, so we passed it on to a friend. It turned out to be a magnificent place to go.”

Even last year’s riots don’t appear to have dampened the enthusiasm of home exchangers. “We had two people coming (that summer) from Stuttgart and from Denver,” Rose said. “I called them to make sure they were still interested. They said, ‘It’s not near you, is it?’ They still wanted to come, so they came.

“I’ve had some requests this year that I wish I hadn’t turned down,” she added. “One was for Paris, one from Belgium and one from the Netherlands.”

HOW YOU CAN BE A SWAPPER

If you are interested in arranging a home exchange, there are numerous books and clubs that can help you. For guidelines on what you should do to get your home ready for a vacation exchange, here’s a list of ideas.

Preparing Your House for a Home Exchange

1--Make sure home is clean, as you would for any guest.

2--Provide linens and food staples. Empty refrigerator of perishables.

3--Leave notes in appropriate places or compile a notebook of information on operation of appliances, care of pets and plants if any, and where to find essentials such as the fuse box and batteries for smoke detector. Also include a list of where to shop, restaurants, parks and other entertainment spots nearby.

4--Leave list of emergency phone numbers, and numbers of friends or family who can be reached in case of problems or just for advice.

5--Leave keys in agreed-upon place.

6--Store irreplaceable or antique items, and make sure appliances are on the correct setting.

7--Make sure homeowners insurance is adequate to cover your guests. Also check your car insurance if you are exchanging automobiles.

8--Provide adequate closet and drawer space for guests.

9--Agree on how to handle long-distance calls.

10--Leave note specifying if any rooms or equipment (a home computer, for instance) are to be off-limits.

Compiled from Intervac’s “Guidelines for Exchanging.”

The Swap Meet: Exchange Clubs

Intervac U.S.

P.O. Box 190070

San Francisco, Calif. 94119

Contact: Lori Horne

(415) 435-3497

Established in 1953, Intervac is a network of 22 independently owned companies around the world. It costs $62 for one listing and three directories, extra for additional homes, photo of house, and $72 to receive directories but not be listed.

The Invented City

41 Sutter St.

Suite 1090

San Francisco, Calif. 94104

Contact: Glenn London

(415) 673-0347

Costs $50 ($60 outside North America) to appear in one catalogue and receive three catalogues, or $50 for unlisted membership, with fees for home photo, second listing.

Loan-a-Home

2 Park Lane 6E

Mount Vernon, N.Y. 10552

(914) 644-7640

Catering especially to professors and medical/research personnel, Loan-a-Home specializes in arranging sabbatical exchanges. It costs $35 for a single directory and supplement, or $45 for four issues. There is no charge for listing your home.

Teacher Swap

P.O. Box 454

Oakdale, N.Y. 11769-0454

Contact: Ron Frevola

(516) 244-2845

This club is exclusively for educators. It’s $42 to list and get the directory or $50 just to receive the directory.

Vacation Exchange Club

P.O. Box 650

Key West, Fla. 33041

Contact: Karl Costabel

(800) 638-3841

Along with Intervac, this 40-year-old organization is one of the oldest and largest exchange clubs. Basic membership is $60, with nominal additional fees to include picture of your house or a second home listing.

Vacation Homes Unlimited

18547 Soledad Canyon Road

Suite 223

Santa Clarita, Calif. 91351

(805) 251-1238

Enrollment is $55 for listing in the next scheduled directory, and you receive three directories and supplements. Can choose “most favored country” status and get regular computer printouts of exchangers in your nominated country. For $50 you can receive three directories without being listed. The company has been in business since 1986.

Reading for Home Swappers

“Trading Places” by Bill and Mary Barbour (1991 Rutledge Hill Press, 513 3rd Ave. South, Nashville, Tenn. 37210, $9.95; no shipping charges; Florida residents add state tax; $2 shipping outside U.S.). A thorough examination of every aspect of home exchange, with lots of personal anecdotes.

“The Vacation Home Exchange and Hospitality Guide” by John Kimbrough (1991 Kimco Communications, 4242 W. Dayton, Fresno, Calif. 93722, (209) 275-0893; $14.95 plus Calif. tax and $2 shipping). This book covers home exchange, as well as hospitality or host exchanges (where you are the guest of a host family in exchange for hosting in the future), and bed-and-breakfast exchanges.

(See related stories, K4.)