Restate is a new home exchange network that allows people to leverage the home they own to make a short term move to a new place. The model is similar to home exchanges for vacations, but with a few key differences. The emphasis here is on moving to a new location for a period of at least one month, potentially for years if you can find a match. As their website explains: “Restate helps homeowners experience freedom of mobility while preserving the security of home ownership. It’s like having a home everywhere.”
In addition to the minimum one month swap requirement, Restate attempts to standardize swap dates by requiring that all exchanges start in the first few days of the month. Unlike traditional home exchange networks, on Restate you don’t contact other home owners directly, instead Restate facilitates the swaps, which means you don’t need to find direct exchanges. This system helps increase the opportunities for members who might have a very hard time finding someone from NYC who wants to move to their home city for the exact same three months they want to move to NYC.
To join Restate you must be a home owner, and you have to apply for membership by providing some information about your home. In the future Restate might add membership for renters according to this interview I found.
I’ve already applied for membership and hope to explore further what opportunities exist on Restate. It seems like a great way to do a risk-free move to a new city, either just to enjoy a change of pace or to test it out for a potential permanent move. For folks who have more flexibility in their schedules, this could be a good way to do long term travels. It’s something you could arrange on other home exchange networks as people are frequently looking for long swaps just for vacations, so it will be interesting to see if this more specific strict model can attract enough members to provide options that match those members’ interests.
