House Swap (Holidays)

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mr magnolia
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House Swap (Holidays)

Post by mr magnolia » 18 Jan 2007, 21:28

Hello campers

has anyone here had a shot at the potentially cheap holiday route by swapping houses with someone?

I'm thinking of UK swaps at present, if only to allow more time to save up for 5 tickets/carbon footprints to somewhere else at another time.

Any info greatfully received, and no, I don't want to go to Musselburgh, or Craigentinny, or the Durhams...

I'd like to go to North Devon please, to a super big house near the beach, in the first two (or three) weeks of the school hols.

:alien: :rr: :flower: .:0.: :fish: :iroc:

(emoticons by magnoliettes) :wav: :angel4: :angel13:
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foxy
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Post by foxy » 19 Jan 2007, 00:12

Never tried a house swap Mr M and I don't even know anyone who has, although it has always seemed to be a very sensible, practical and economic solution, especially when you have young kids

My only concern as a woman would be the amount of cleaning I would have to do before I was happy to let another woman loose in my hoose without feeling mortified, and likewise the cleaning I would have to do before I left hers on the return journey...so maybe not much of a break :evil:
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mr magnolia
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Post by mr magnolia » 19 Jan 2007, 00:28

I'm going to sort this out man to man and child to child.

Cleaning and tidying, I suspect, will not feature over high on the list of issues!

8)
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Nelson Hatstand
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Post by Nelson Hatstand » 19 Jan 2007, 00:42

We've been thinking about it too Mr M, and funnily enough Mrs H also has reservations about cleaning - but here are a couple we've looked at:

http://intervac.co.uk/
http://www.homelink.org.uk
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Post by mr magnolia » 19 Jan 2007, 01:18

have you coughed up yr £65 mr H?

and if so are you flooded with offers?

we were really wondering about a UK swap to start with as the 6/4/2 magnoliette ages suggests there must be others, even abroad in Ingerland, who don't fancy/bank manager wont let/travelling abroad but would love to come to Embra and play with our Barbies and traipse sand into our house?
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Epykat
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Post by Epykat » 19 Jan 2007, 11:07

A friend of mine did it a few years ago. She swapped with a family in Paris and as far as I know it all went well. I'll quiz her tonight on your behalf.
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Nelson Hatstand
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Post by Nelson Hatstand » 19 Jan 2007, 11:26

mr magnolia wrote:have you coughed up yr £65 mr H?

and if so are you flooded with offers?
Not yet - we're still at the "gawping at other people's houses" stage...
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Maria
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Post by Maria » 19 Jan 2007, 16:57

Would imagine that you'd get folk very interested at Festival time. We had a couple of friends house sit for us last October and it was only as I started to see our abode through their eyes I realised what a truly sluttish housekeeper I really am. Oh well, who wants to live in a sterile, minimalist showhouse anyway?

*Apart from Poppy obviously*
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Porty
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Post by Porty » 19 Jan 2007, 18:00

My ex-neigbours at WBC house-swapped several times and so did another neighbour who still lives in the street. Both had great experiences and vowed ot was well worth it. Think they both used an outfit called "invisible village" or something like that, from San. It is a long-term established business that also catered for UK swaps. Never heard a bad thing about them.
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Poppy
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Post by Poppy » 19 Jan 2007, 18:00

Marya wrote:*Apart from Poppy obviously*
Plug will find the minimalist bit amusing; the only difference between your level of slatternity and mine is that I seem to use my vacuum more!! :P :P
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Sandra
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Post by Sandra » 19 Jan 2007, 18:12

Marya wrote:We had a couple of friends house sit for us last October and it was only as I started to see our abode through their eyes I realised what a truly sluttish housekeeper I really am. Oh well, who wants to live in a sterile, minimalist showhouse anyway?

*Apart from Poppy obviously*
In last week sos at home magazine was the house of creator of brewhaha tea - she has a great print in her house stating "A clean house is the sign of a wasted life" - I wholeheartedly agree! :D
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Post by Black Mamba » 20 Jan 2007, 23:25

I've never done a house swap but, Sarah that I clean for two days a week (for over a year now) pays me to stay in her house for two weeks in July (While they are in Cornwall) I feed and walk the dogs, feed the cat, feed the ducks and hens (put them to bed at night) and see to the horses (take them in and out and muck out the stables) I also water the garden if it needs it. Their house is in the middle of nowher and it's so peaceful, We really enjoy it. It's like having a holiday and being paid for it. During the day I can do as I like of course. This year I have a friend coming over from America for 3 weeks and they can stay at Sarah's with us, while we are there.
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Post by mr magnolia » 21 Jan 2007, 15:55

Nice one Mamba!

The Magolian Clan have just signed up at geenee 'cos it's free!

Go on Nelson - we could attract some sort of weird extended family to stay!
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Porty
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Post by Porty » 05 Dec 2008, 13:41

I joined http://www.homeforexchange.com/ but have not taken the plunge yet. I have had offers from several places in the USA, Spain, France, England Mexico, Brazil and lots from Austrailia. I'm not quite ready to commit yet.
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House Exchanges

Post by mr magnolia » 06 Dec 2008, 01:35

Family magnolia joined up with Homelink International which costs £120/year.

We went away to Burgos, Spain in the summer for our first exchange adventure, combined with a mini break in madrid (we flew there with easyjet) and 4 days on the north coast.

It was great to be away as a family in accommodation that had all the family type stuff in it already, and to be living somewhere that wasn't a standard tourist accommodation zone. Made it feel a little more of an adventure for the big peeps and for the little ones. Saved a whack of money on accommodation (thus allowing some other hotels for our madrid / coastal stays) and we swapped cars also so no car hire fees.

Potential downside: Car insurance - never really got this sorted to my satisfaction as Spanish insurance seems to be largely 3rd party and occupant cover, so we agreed a deal with our swappers that they would pay the first 300euros of any damage to their car and we would split the difference for any further damage. I'm sure the insurance market has a product for me out there and next time we will research that properly.

We are off to London on another one for Hogmanay and fending offers now for next summer.

We were taken by surprise (stupidly, perhaps) at the number of folk keen to come to Edinburgh.

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Porty
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Post by Porty » 06 Dec 2008, 14:22

That sounds very encouraging Mr M. I too am surprised by Edinburgh's popularity. Think I paid $75 for a year but they had an extra 6 mths free offer on at the time.
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Post by rapunzell » 06 Dec 2008, 17:23

I'd love to do house sitting! I wouldn't be of much use other than as perhaps a crime deterrant and good company for a really slow-moving cat, but it would be fun.
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