Find a website that's easy to search and offers detailed information on exchange homes.

The high cost of booking hotels or renting vacation condos can make traveling very expensive. One increasingly popular alternative is to sign up with a home exchange program, which connects people in destination cities across the world, letting them trade residences for the length of their vacations. This way, an Australian family can trade their house in Sydney for the apartment of a New York couple, and both families can enjoy time away from home without paying steep hotel bills.

Californian Ed Kushins spent three years traveling the world while serving on an attack submarine in the US Navy. After earning his MBA at the University of Southern California, Kushins worked as a Marketing Director for an international airline, and then started Trading Homes International, a company offering home exchanges for travelers, in 1992. In 2002, the company merged into HomeExchange.com, with Kushins as co-President. Here he offers tips on finding a home exchange program that's right for you:

• Check the Web.
  If you're interested in a vacation home exchange, the Internet is probably the best place to start, as it's the fastest and easiest way to find exchange companies and listings
  
• Peruse the listings.
  According to Kushins, larger home exchange agencies can have as many as seven to ten thousand listings, while smaller ones may only have five hundred or so. Clearly, more listings means more options, but you should also take into account the quality of the homes listed. Are there lots of listings for the areas that interest you? Are the listings spread out around the world, or do they seem to be centered in one geographical area only?
  
• Paid listings are sometimes better.
  Some sites charge a fee to list homes, while other listings are free. In Kushin's opinion, people who spend money to list their homes are probably serious about doing exchanges, while those who list for free might not be as committed to the idea.
  
• Ease of use.
  Make sure the website you search on or list with is user friendly, and will allow you to look for a vacation exchange based on many different criteria, like size, location, style of home, etc. It should be easy to find the types of listings you're after, whether they be apartments in a big city, or family and pet-friendly homes in the suburbs.
  
• Quality of Information.
  The more specific information a site gives about a listing, the easier it will be for you to make the right choice. Look for sites that offer photos of the home, as well as details about the dwelling, the owners, and the location. Vague, unspecific information isn't good enough, as you'll want to know exactly what awaits you, and you must be comfortable enough to offer the use of your own home in exchange.

For more information about home exchanges, check out the following organizations or websites:

HomeExchange.com
www.homeexchange.com

HomeLink International
www.homelink.org

International Home Exchange Network
www.homexchange.com

HomeInvite.com: Home Exchange Tips
www.homeinvite.com/exchange_tips

Holi-Swaps: Top ten Tips for Home Exchange Success
www.holi-swaps.com/topten

GTI Home Exchange: Advice and Recommendations on Taking a Home Exchange Holiday
www.gti-home-exchange.com/hints