1. Yes.
2. Very well !
It works out very good value in terms of a holiday; you need to put in a good bit of work on your research and preparing your own information (web site is very handy if you can do one).
You also need to put in a bit of work in getting your own house up to stratch (all the loose door handles and paw marks!).
Any thing that's precious to you and you would be heartbroken about if any thing happened - pack it in boxes and put it in the attic/cupboard.
You'll get lots of tips etc., on the Intervac & Home exchanges sites.