On Sunday an old college friend dropped by. He was home from London for the weekend.
We jumped in his car and headed for the pretty little coastal town of Ballycotton. This place has a famous lighthouse and a big pier that kids like to jump off in summer.
There’s also a stunning cliff walk along the ocean front, ending with a descent to a sandy cove and rock pools. We were there to do the cliff walk.
A fixture of Cork’s coastline since the mid-1800s, Ballycotton Lighthouse still casts its beam from a wild and beautiful headland.
After the usual pleasantries, our conversation turned to his upcoming trips. He and his family travel all the time.
And they haven’t paid a cent for a hotel or rental for years…
They stay in wonderful places across the globe…from Costa Rica to Berlin to Sardinia. The type of places that in many cases you just couldn’t rent…or, if you could, it would cost a small fortune.
How?
They figured out house swapping and it opened up a whole new world for them. When they aren’t making direct house swaps, they let people stay in their home when they are travelling in return for points that they can cash in for stays.
Every time we meet, I walk away thinking to myself: I gotta figure out this world of house swapping.
This time however it is different.
My wife and I are renovating a 5,000 square foot home perched above a village in northern Portugal with views to the ocean and waves crashing on the beaches of both Portugal and Spain.
We’re getting antique furniture re-upholstered in creams and light colors. We will have personal, fragile and portable stuff in there. We are making a home…not a rental.
We had planned on renting the home out in the peak summer months when a house like this can rent for €600-700 per night. (That’s wild when you figure our purchase price was €410,000.)
But now I’m not so sure.
I certainly don’t want a big volume of renters trapsing through.
The historic mansion I bought in Caminha last year. My wife and I considered it move-in-ready. And it was. But you know how these things can go. It’s starts with re doing bathrooms, then kitchen, and before you know it it’s a full cosmetic makeover down to the upholstery on antique furniture.
My friend, and indeed everyone else I know who has taking the leap into the house-swapping world, speaks to the confidence and comfort you can get in who you swap with. This is a community of likeminded people… people you can vet… and who you can see years of reviews of before handing over your keys.
Once home from meeting my friend, I got online and was sucked straight down the home-swapping rabbit hole.
One of my sisters is filling our family WhatsApp group with jaw-dropping photos from Sardinia and Corsica. Places I have wanted to go for a long time.
These days I’m only interested in travelling for very special accommodation.
My time in the Loire Valley last weekend has reignited my interest in France…both village and Riviera.
I want to go back to Nantucket where I spent a summer working as a college student but don’t want to pay Nantucket rents.
I’m spoiled—I live in amazing properties…beach- and golf-fronting…in places I love. Going on vacation is hard because I don’t want to compromise on accommodation. And also I tend not to vacation these days…I prefer slow travel, where I continue to work while immersing myself in a new place.
Wherever I turned on the house-swapping platforms, I made new discoveries…charming homes of character with the best views and aspect. So cared-for by their owners that they would never consider renting them out…but they are happy to swap with a likeminded person.
I went down this rabbit hole exploring one hack. And then I discovered another…
The view from the entrance to my new home in Caminha. That’s Spain just across the water.
My first thesis: our historic home in Caminha is 5,000 square feet. It will comfortably sleep 12 people. When we are finished with renovations, it will include all modern conveniences. We bought it for €410,000. Could I swap this for a similar property on the French Riviera, Todos Santos Mexico, or Tuscany?
I’m talking homes that could rent for €10,000 a week and more. And it appears that yes is the answer.
That’s quite the arbitrage play…swap a €410,000 home for a €4 million one.
The homes are like for like…the only difference is I bought the Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) way. I got in before the crowds arrived.
I’ve observed people using a single property in a low-cost destination like Thailand to perpetually travel to high-cost destinations …Copenhagen, Paris, Cote D’Azur…
That’s quite the life hack.
As I dug deeper and read profiles of house-swappers…a new epiphany hit me: the New Yorker who swaps a fabulous Italian villa isn’t only interested in places like the Greek Islands or Amsterdam. They also have a resort itch that they want to scratch—especially in the dark winter months.
That’s where a different type of real estate I own can also come in.
For example, when delivered, the condo I bought last September in the Crystal Garden community in Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic will be hotly in demand.
The same goes for condos that members of my RETA group will be able to secure at 1 pm ET today in the Azul Garden community in Cap Cana, just a short walk from one of the most spectacular beaches on Earth. (With Azul Garden, I expect gains of $319,600 five years after delivery and gross rental yields of 12%.) (Not a RETA member? Join here to access future deals).
And these condos will be in-demand by folks who have totally different properties in high-cost locations, like major European cities and premium European destinations.
With a coastline like this, it’s not difficult to understand why the Dominican Republic’s tourism sector is booming. People want to rent here…to own here…to stay here…
I can swap my Caminha home for an estate in rural Italy or on a Greek isle when I want to invite friends and family along.
And I can take some space capacity from my rental portfolio in places like Cap Cana, Playa del Carmen, Cabo, and Costa Rica when I’m looking to make a base in Madrid for two weeks’ exploring.
As more of the world catches on to internationalizing themselves, it’s becoming harder and more expensive to find nice affordable Airbnbs in world-class destinations.
That’s great news for our portfolio of rentals. But makes travel more challenging and expensive.
For example, I have been priced out of weekends with family in Todos Santos and the East Cape when I am in Cabo in Mexico. For me to leave my home in the 5-star Quivira resort in Cabo, I only want to stay in a really nice beachfront home. Those now are nearly impossible to find and rent for well over $1,000 per night.
But I could find stunning homes for swapping.
Homes designed by world-famous architects I never even knew existed. They are never rented…but they are shared within this community.
Another unexpected consequence of this rabbit hole is it has opened my mind up to places I had never considered. The home is the draw. I know Crete well…I spent another summer over college working in bars there. It’s a mixed bag…with a lot of low-quality mass-market tourism. As such, it’s not a place I would consider for a trip or temporary base. But I found incredible waterfront homes in charming off-the-beaten-track villages that I would love to call home for a couple of weeks.
As soon as our Caminha home is ready and we have photos, I plan to cast a wide net. Whether that’s an island off Washington state, Corsica, or Tuscany…we are open once the home and the surrounds makes us badly want to be there.
We only intend to swap our second, third or fourth homes with other folks’ second homes. I’m much more comfortable with that.
We can buy condos and homes the RETA way for €400,000 and not only enjoy capital appreciation and rental income but also get to stay in charming, world-class homes right across the globe.
Because we buy right…the right communities, location, accessibility and amenities mean our home will be in hot demand. There’s more to life and the RETA beat than just making money…and this hack is shaping up to be a nice secondary benefit.
Stay tuned…I’ll keep you posted on this journey…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. Have you tried home-swapping? I’d love to hear about your experience! Drop me a line here.
