How millionaires are trading their luxe holiday homes

Imagine being able to swap your holiday home for a glamorous getaway almost anywhere in the world – and it’s rent-free. 

The only obvious catch – except for a small service fee – is that you have to own a holiday retreat worth more than $2 million. 

ThirdHome, a luxury holiday home exchange club, is an interesting option for those who may be tiring of their holiday bolthole or feeling it’s underused. 

Elevate your living experience with our digital magazines

Browse Domain’s property and lifestyle magazines.

Read now

When members let people stay in their holiday homes, they earn credits that unlock access to some 17,000 homes worldwide. 

While a holiday stay is rent-free, fees range from $745 to $2015 a week, with annual membership costing $445 (free in the first year) – a fraction of the actual rental cost.

Queenslander Sarah Campbell, who owns a luxe getaway on the Sunshine Coast, was attracted to the concept when she heard about it from a friend two years ago. 

“We’ve been on home-exchanges platforms where somebody who owns a caravan in the middle of a New Zealand paddock wants to swap,”  she says.

Since joining ThirdHome, she has stayed at a plush three-bedroom apartment in Hokkaido, Japan. “Our family are all skiers – we have four children. The apartment was high-end, had a concierge, and was in a great location,” she says.

She likes the travel club’s personalised service and having the opportunity to travel to beautiful houses in locations she might not otherwise visit. She has hosted three successful swaps at her Sunshine Coast retreat.

“You’re not getting the dollar value for your home but you’re obviously getting the opportunity to travel,” she says.

Campbell plans to continue to rent out her house on other platforms and make it available on ThirdHome during off-peak times. 

Byron Bay property developer Jason Dunn is another recent convert. 

“I love the pre-vetting and the membership process,” he says. “I love the fact that ThirdHome does a deep dive on the properties and the owners, and it’s on a membership basis. It’s not just a walk off the street and do a home swap-type arrangement.”

He says people with holiday homes don’t use them all the time, and this swap arrangement optimises their assets.

Dunn is building Secret Garden in Byron Bay, a mixed development with 22 apartments (priced from $2.45 million), which is expected to be completed by Christmas 2025.

He has signed a deal, so Secret Garden owners are pre-approved to join ThirdHome. Since he will own one of the apartments, he is now a member and is looking forward to travelling. “The holiday homes I love are the ski-in, ski-out residences at the Ritz Carlton in Aspen.”

The director of the Byron Bay Film Festival, J’aimee Skippon-Volke, would like to see more visitors stay in the area and international visitors return in the same numbers as pre-COVID.

“There’s an economic downturn in Byron Bay with fewer people holidaying at home,” she says. We’ve definitely seen a downturn in international visitors, too.”

Overnight stays by domestic visitors were down by 300,000 in 2022, and international visitor numbers slumped by 166,000, according to the tourism agency Destination North Coast. There are empty shops in town, and some businesses struggle to find staff or accommodate them.

Skippon-Volke says she has mixed feelings about holiday-house swapping and points out that there is a rental crisis in the area, with longer-term rental accommodation needed for local workers. However, if a house is sitting empty and it’s not going to be sold or rented out permanently, then it might as well accommodate visitors.

New Byron Shire Council restrictions from the end of September that cap short-term rental accommodation at 60 days a year (down from the current 180 days) are also controversial in Byron Bay.

Sydney-based James Gerrard, a director at FinancialAdvisor.com.au, says many of his clients who own holiday houses only use them 10 to 20 days a year. 

He believes the exchange concept is good as people make better use of their property, and having the home occupied will reduce the danger of vandalism and theft.

“There are no income tax consequences with ThirdHome because it’s more like a bartering type of arrangement whereas there’s income tax on the rental that you receive from renting your place on Airbnb,” he says.

People should review their insurance policies because if guests are injured, they may not be covered, and they may need public liability insurance. For accidental damage to the home, people may need a specific insurance policy for short-term rentals.

US founder Wade Shealy, who started ThirdHome in 2010, was recently in Australia to meet some of the 500-plus members here. He loved the ThirdHome property in North Bondi he stayed in.

“Australians are passionate about owning property, and they love to travel,” Shealy says. We are expecting to go over 1000 members by year-end.”

He says there are some incredibly impressive properties in Australia and they recently signed a $30 million-plus property in Byron Bay. 

“The airing of Millionaire Holiday Home Swap on Foxtel last year really put us on the map,” Shealy says.

And, if the general run-of-the-mill luxe getaway isn’t good enough, there is a ThirdHome Reserve for those with homes and yachts worth more than $15.5 million.