Ditch the hotel, find a free vacation rental online

PHOENIX - If you're planning your next summer vacation, hold off on booking the hotel. Some Valley homeowners are finding free places to stay online.

Suzanne Horne, from Phoenix, has a two bedroom condominium. She's swapped her home 15 times.  She's taken trips to Sedona, London and Victoria, Canada, just to name a few.

Horne says she hasn't had a bad experience.  Crowded closet space and some ants in a home were the worst she's had, she said.

Horne says she swapped for about a month at a time.  Swappers stay in one another's home.  Sometimes, people trade the use of their car or pet-sitting services.  Horne says she had a house maid in one of her trades.  The biggest challenge might be finding someone who wants to vacation in your town and coordinating a schedule for both parties.  Horne says each deal took months.

HomeExchange.com is the site Horne used.  It costs about $120 for an annual fee or roughly $50 for three months.  According to the site, there are more than 40,000 users from around the world. 

If swapping isn't for you, there are several websites that can help you rent your property seasonally. 

Here are some sites that we've found to help you rent or swap:

Homeaway.com

Airbnb.com

If you're planning to use any of these sites, there are some things to consider:

• Watch out for scammers. Avoid giving cash deposits or wire transfers.
• If you're doing a swap, ask for references.
• Check with your city/state about rental tax that you may have to pay if you turn your home into a vacation rental.
• Check your homeowner's insurance policy. Renters may not be covered.

Is this something you would do, or have you done it before? Let us know in a comment below.