Review date: April 2014
CasaVersa.com
Founded in 2012
Per exchange each year: $45 for first exchange, $35 for second, $25 for third, $15 for fourth, all the rest are free
Owned by Ajar ~ Yariv Gilad in Israel
English only
577 listings
Listings by continent:
- Africa: 2
- Asia: 201
- Europe: 131
- Oceana: 3
- North America: 206
- South America: 34
Searching: There is a map based search that can select down to region within a country. The non-map search uses a box in which you type your desired destination. They are using geography auto-complete for improved accuracy in the searches. Using this box you can search at any level of geography you desire. Once results are returned you can only refine the search by dates of travel, there are no other filter options. Searches are very slow, especially considering the small number of listings being processed. The search is also buggy, returning old results or incorrect map display sometimes.
In addition to the CasaVersa results they return, searches provide additional listings at the bottom of the page: “We’ve searched the internet and found these home exchange opportunities for you. Contact these listings through CasaVersa for extra safety and simplicity.” These listings display a picture, description, availability date and list date, but it’s not possible to retrieve any other information on them or the source where they were found.
Listings: The listings returned from the search have a decent overview of information but without some details that might be useful like how many people are in the swapping family. Listing details are nicely organized but completely leave out any information about the person with whom you will be swapping, and also lack a map.
This site offers the following variations on house swapping:
- simultaneous or non-simultaneous house swap – this is the traditional model where two parties swap houses for an agreed upon set of dates.
Site design: The twirling houses feel a bit like a kids website, but overall CasaVersa has a user friendly interface and up to date feel.
Additional features: CasaVersa offers a few member verification options via social media accounts and phone number. They include the option of leaving reviews for people with whom you have swapped. And you can save destinations so that future new members will be notified of your interest when they join. They have an active twitter and blog feed suggesting that this is a growing business. The pricing model for this site is intriguing, it is free unless you find a swap, which is great for users.