Hotels Too Pricey? Try A Swap.

When the concept of home-swapping was portrayed in 2006 by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in the movie "The Holiday," it seemed fairly ambitious: Cross continents and trade out a Los Angeles mansion for a cottage in the British countryside for a few weeks. Oh -- and fall in love with Jude Law and Jack Black in the end.

But with the recent economic troubles, and the second year of "staycation" as a buzzword, Washington area residents are turning to home swaps as an affordable way to get away for the week or weekend. So far, at least, Jude Law and Jack Black have not been part of the trades.

Greg Kearley, an architect in the District, started swapping his Adams Morgan condo this summer to save money on vacations. He has swapped his way into a four-bedroom house on a sprawling property in the Teton mountains and a 1,200-square-foot loft in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. He vacated his home over Labor Day weekend (borrowing the home of friends who were away for the weekend) so a mother and daughter could swap into his two-bedroom condo. In return, he'll get dibs on using their home in Lake Tahoe, Calif., for three days.

"With the economy sort of in the tank, it just was a great way to travel with not having to pay for a place to stay, which is typically the most expensive part of the trip," said Kearley, a longtime traveler.

Some home-swappers do simultaneous exchanges, like the characters in "The Holiday," while others make delayed-swap arrangements like Kearley's. In addition to the informal "credits" he's built up for three nights in Lake Tahoe, he expects to spend five nights in the Paris home of a family that used his condo this summer.

Although most of the Web sites that post home-exchange listings do not track how many matches are made, Ed Kushins, president of HomeExchange.com, said they are now seeing more members who used to exchange their homes once a year doing more frequent, more local exchanges.

Kearley said his Washington listing gets more requests than he can entertain. He thinks his location in Adams Morgan is a draw. And, while the District may not be as popular as, say, New York City, he said, Washington home swaps draw a mix of tourists from the United States and abroad.

Kushins estimates that some families are able to save thousands of dollars on their vacations by eliminating the costs of hotel rooms and rental cars. He said that each month this year new listings have increased 20 to 35 percent compared with the same month last year. The Web site currently gets about 800 to 1,000 new postings each month.

New home-swappers usually have some apprehension about leaving their homes in the hands of total strangers for a week or longer, he said. But he likened it to the feeling someone gets before bungee jumping the first time.

"The cord never breaks," Kushins said. "And after you do it, you say, okay, I want to do it again."

The bottom line with home-swapping is common sense, said Dan Rubin, president of the International Home Exchange Network, another online clearinghouse.

When preparing a home for guests, put away valuables and breakables, he suggested, and ask a neighbor to deliver the keys to your swap partners and show them how to "use" your house. That should include an introduction to your quirky washing machine and any other idiosyncrasies about your place.