Putting your apartment or house to work does not necessarily mean collecting rent. With Airbnb and others, you generate taxable income. With HomeExchange, you don’t touch not a eurobut you save your own hotel or rental nights. The right choice depends on your needs: do you want to generate cash or travel cheaper?
On Airbnb, accommodation becomes a mini-business: pricing, calendar, cleaning, customer reviews and sometimes concierge service. On HomeExchange, it becomes a currency of exchange: you accumulate points or organize direct swaps, betting on trust between members. In both cases, your property stops “sleeping” during your absences, but the effort required, and the financial return, are very different.
HomeExchange: your accommodation finances your vacation
On HomeExchange, no income, but savings. You pay an annual subscription (175 euros) and exchange your residence for that of other members. To benefit from it, you have to accept a minimum of flexibility. Laurence De Tricault, owner of an apartment in Marseille, has found her own rules of the game: “be quite flexible on dates and destinations. Rather refer to a type of accommodation, for example, looking for a house in the south of France with a swimming pool. You have to send a lot of requests to get a positive response. »
She also developed a very pragmatic method: “Make a big batch of requests and send them all at once. Once a contact says yes to you, you have to be quite reactive otherwise, she may slip away from you. » Another key tip: aim for stays of several nightsbecause preparing your accommodation remains work. Laurence warns “that making requests for several nights rather than just one is more profitable in terms of points and time”. In terms of storage, the atmosphere is not like a showcase apartment: no need to hide everything, the guests come precisely to “a house that lives”with books, toys and everyday objects, which they respect since they themselves open up their interior in exchange.
Airbnb and others: a source of income
On Airbnb’s side, the logic is direct: each night rented pays off. The platform has established itself as the simplest tool for individuals, especially in tourist areas. Laura Mangold manages her friends’ house in Les Sables-d’Olonne like this: “I put the house on 3 to 4 sites and Airbnb is the easiest for individuals. When you have requests, you validate or not. » The tools allow you to synchronize calendars (Airbnb, Booking, other sites) to avoid double reservations, to block dates reserved for the family, and to add obligatory cleaning fees or integrated into the price.
On the ground, demand can be very high: in Sables-d’Olonne, some owners only rent in the summer, and collect around 10,000 euros over three weeks. However, this model has a hidden cost: preparation of the property (empty cupboards, secure private spaces, install blocking systems on certain storage areas), household management, etc. More and more rental companies are using concierge services who take an additional commission but discharge entries, exits and inventory.
How to choose: need income or want to travel?
For a real financial profitabilityAirbnb remains the king option, especially in very touristy and well-served areas. It makes it possible to cover part of the credit, charges and property tax, at the cost of heavier management and taxation to be assumed. Outsourcing via a concierge service makes life easier, but will cut into your margin.
To maximize the use of your accommodation without targeting rent, HomeExchange is an attractive alternative: your vacation anywhere in the world can cost almost nothing in accommodation, in exchange for a little flexibility on dates, responsiveness in responses and a certain confidence in other members.
Basically, the best strategy for many owners will be mixed: a few weeks rented on Airbnb to generate cash, and a few HomeExchange exchanges to transform their nest… into a travel passport.
Airbnb
- No subscription;
- commissions of around 3%;
- direct but taxable income;
- heavy or outsourced management at cost;
- real risk of degradation;
- increasing regulatory constraints.
HomeExchange
- Subscription of 175 euros/year all inclusive;
- without commissions;
- no income but savings on travel;
- no taxation;
- simple management with very low risk;
- zero regulatory constraints.
