Home-swapping in action — Le’at of Israel talks to CasaVersa

Leeat and Gary live in Israel and are the proud parents of four kids. They moved to Ranaana (a short drive from Tel Aviv) from the UK a while back and love to travel. Leeat sat down with me to explain how they saved a small fortune on a holiday in Israel, a few years ago, that helped them realise the world was worth exploring — or in their case, moving around! I caught up with Leeat last week to have a chat with her.

CasaVersa: So what made you decide to swap homes?

Leeat: Well, back in 2014, when we still lived in London — we moved to Israel 2 years ago — we had friends who rented out their home one summer and with the money they received they used it to take a nice summer holiday. I said to my husband: “Rather than rent out our home, why don’t we swap it with a family who’d like to visit London?”

CasaVersa: Did you have any specific idea of where you wanted to go?

Leeat: Yes — Israel. We were travelling there at least twice a year and it was really adding up, financially. With our four kids all under 18, we were limited to school breaks and summer holidays, when flights and hotels are even more expensive than usual. Israel isn’t a cheap country at the best of times and so for 6 of us, staying in a hotel and eating meals out regularly ended up adding up. It wasn’t just costly…it was actually exhorbitant.

CasaVersa: So swapping homes really saved you a large sum of money?

Leeat: Absolutely — we’re talking thousands of pounds here for a 2 week holiday.

CasaVersa: Did you have any reservations at the beginning?

Leeat: Actually yes. I wasn’t entirely sure if it would work — I thought to myself, “What if we don’t like the house?” “How will we know we can trust them?” “What if they trash our place?” And we had a nice house and I wanted to be sure we’d get something nice in return — you know, kind of ‘like for like.’

CasaVersa: Of course. So how did you go about finding someone?

Leeat: My husband Gary found some kind of online forum operating in the wider Tel Aviv area and he placed an ad on it. He wrote about what we were looking for — for instance we wanted a garden, a kosher kitchen (we observe the Jewish dietary laws), somewhere with shops close by, etc. We received two responses — one wasn’t interesting but the other was. The family were South African and they lived in Ra’anana, a city about 30–40 minutes drive from Tel Aviv, and home to lots of English-speaking families. It’s also a short drive to the beach and the beautiful Mediterranean sea.

CasaVersa: Being around English-speakers was something important to you?

Leeat: Yes, we wanted to feel we could communicate easily! Gary and the other family’s wife started chatting on WhatsApp and before long they’d built up a very good rapport. We both felt that the conversation he was having with her was moving in a positive direction — it was very honest and open. Next, we swapped photos of our homes and then we exchanged references. Afterwards, once we all felt comfortable with the arrangement we started making plans.

CasaVersa: What about practical arrangements?

Leeat: Both our family and theirs tried to be reasonable. We both paid our own bills but tried to be responsible. For instance, it was the summer in Israel and air conditioning can be expensive, so Gary and I made not sure to leave it on night and day. Similarly, they were careful at their end. In the end, no-one ended up with high bills. Then we alligned dates and booked tickets that would cross with each other…

CasaVersa: So what about key handovers?

Leeat: We left our keys with a friend of ours who is a taxi driver — this was really handy because he could pick them up at the airport, drive them to our home and then show them around personally. As for us, we didn’t even have to pick up keys because they had a code system…you just punch in the numbers. I love this idea by the way!

CasaVersa: And how did you feel when you walked in?

Leeat: It was a lovely home…with six bedrooms and a swimming pool! Everything was clean and tidy and they’d even baked us a cake as a “hallo’ gift. Of course, I’d left them food and put clean linens on our beds back in England, so they would feel equally comfortable when they arrived at our place.

CasaVersa: It must have been a nice feeling to arrive to this?

Leeat: Oh yes. We basically took the view: “You use our stuff, we’ll use yours.” So not only did we swap houses, but we also got to use their car (which saved us a fortune too). Unfortunately they couldn’t use ours, because of an insurance problem, so they hired a car in London and we split the cost of the rental with them.

CasaVersa: What did your four kids think of the swap?

Leeat: Well, without a doubt they loved it. The house came with a pool (which almost no family has in England). On hot days in Israel that is nothing short of paradise. There was also a ping pong table there, and 2 cats and a turtle! There was loads of space — six bedrooms — which meant no-one felt squashed. The kids had fun with all their counterparts’ toys and my little one — Gili — was overjoyed at the Power Rangers game on the tv!

CasaVersa: So everything was set up for you…and as well as the free accommodation and car, you were able to cook as well?

Leeat: Eating out in Israel is really expensive so, yes, having the kitchen was wonderful. Oh, and another money saver was my sister, who lives in the south of Israel, came to visit us with her kids, and we could offer her accommodation!

CasaVersa: So this swap was a positive experience for you all?

Leeat: Entirely. The family that we swapped with loved being in London and, in fact, we ended up meeting the wife and one of the kids when we returned, because they had stayed on in London, in a hotel, for a few more days. Before this swap, we had never even heard of Ra’anana but in the end, when we moved to Israel a year later, this was the city in which we made our home.

CasaVersa: Are you still in touch with the other family?

Leeat: Yes. Their kids and ours go to the same schools now…and when we’d first moved, and it was Passover, they invited us over for the traditional Seder meal. They didn’t want us to be alone at such a special time in the Jewish year.

CasaVersa: So to sum up, are you glad you took the leap of faith and swapped homes?

Leeat: 100%. I think it’s important to build up a good rapport with the other family — to be fair and reasonable but clear about your expectations. And if you do it right, the openness and honesty will follow. For our family, it was an all-around amazing experience.

CasaVersa: Leeat, thank you very much.