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Q: What's the real chances of swapping apartments internationally for short period ( No Answer,   3 Comments )
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Subject: What's the real chances of swapping apartments internationally for short period
Category: Sports and Recreation > Travel
Asked by: johnfrommelbourne-ga
List Price: $7.00
Posted: 20 Feb 2004 07:04 PST
Expires: 29 Feb 2004 03:52 PST
Question ID: 308801
At near 40 degrees celsius today in Melbourne( extremely hot) I ran
into lady from New England laughing at my complaining and telling me
that when she left New England it was minus 10. That's farenheit I
presume which equates to about minus 1 celsius I think ???   I joked
that I would gladly swap her for a few weeks to which she said she
would be glad to. The tram( cablecar) came and I got on before we
could finish conversation. However it made me think yet again about
idea I have thought of before. That is, surely with a relatively nice
inner city apartment( actual city centre  amongst the skyscrapers),
and right next door to main rail station that takes you through
suburbs or anywhere on the continent in fact, that I could expect to have at
least a few takers if I advertised to swap apartment with someone in
USA.  Ideally actually I would like to swap apartments with someone in
central North Carolina where relative lives but assumimg thats
unlikley what about other bigger cities. I know there is websites that
allow you to advertise but I am more wanting to know what my
realistic  chances would be of swapping my fully furnished apartment
for another in say Washington DC, New York, Boston, etc if I
advertsied now for a two or three week period downtrack on the
calender a bit. Would I get heaps of responses, a reasonable amount, 
a few, hardly any at all,  or none who would seriously entertain the
thought of swapping their apartment for mine here in Melbourne
Australia. Maybe even London which is also very appealing to
m; somewhere in Europe perhaps??  Maybe I could swap with a GR,ha ha???

 John From Melbourne

Request for Question Clarification by byrd-ga on 20 Feb 2004 09:00 PST
John,

I don't think any Researcher will be able to guarantee you any
specific number of possibilities to your advertising your apartment as
you've described.  But home exhange has been around for a long time as
both a concept and a reality, and lots of people participate in it. 
Why don't you take a look at a couple of the more established exchange
services and read all the free things on their sites before deciding
if this is something you really want to do.  If and when you do so
decide, the fees seem fairly reasonable to me, especially considering
one offer (on the first site listed) that absolutely guarantees you
WILL be able to work out an exchange or your second year of membership
is free. These companies also offer various levels of reassurance and
protection to all parties.

http://www.homeexchange.com/
http://www.intervacus.com/ 

If you'd like a Researcher to help you compile a list of more, similar
services, I'm sure any of us would be glad to help you out. However
you decide to approach this, just be assured it is a definite
possibility, and not a farfetched idea at all that you might work out
an arrangement to swap your city apartment for another, or even a
house in North Carolina or London or any number of places worldwide. 
Sounds like a grand adventure - have fun!

Cheers,
Byrd

Clarification of Question by johnfrommelbourne-ga on 22 Feb 2004 01:03 PST
I think clarification is tied up in comments. I mistakenly went to comments first.

 John From Melbourne
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: What's the real chances of swapping apartments internationally for short period
From: owain-ga on 20 Feb 2004 07:56 PST
 
I think you have a good chance of swapping your apartment, not just
with another city centre apartment but many people from a more rural
environment would enjoy a holiday in the city.

Suggestions: 
1. Check out the 'home swap' websites - most allow you to search for
suitable possible matches without registering, so you can gauge for
yourself the possible demand.
2. Look for areas which have direct air connections to Melbourne as
this will be an advantage - someone looking for an Australian holiday
may pick Melbourne and hopefully your apartment in preference to
Sydney or Perth etc if there is a direct flight from near them to near
you.
3. Generally, home swap with people of a similar family composition.
They will have chosen their home location, furnishings, facilties etc
to suit them. If they have young children and you don't, or
vice-versa, your home may not be child-friendly (or child-proof).

You could also ask your NC relatives if they would consider
advertising locally for any possible matches. Using a home swap
agency, however, does give you some assurance that people are serious
and responsible about having a successful home swap.

Owain
Subject: Re: What's the real chances of swapping apartments internationally for short period
From: darrel-ga on 20 Feb 2004 08:00 PST
 
I, too, think you wouldn't have a problem doing this. I think the
major issue you'd need to address is liability.

If you own your apartment, that's one thing because you likely have
homeowners' insurance. But if you are looking to swap rental
apartments, the person you're swapping with would need to gain
permission from his/her landlord.

....Just some thoughts.

darrel-ga
Subject: Re: What's the real chances of swapping apartments internationally for short period
From: johnfrommelbourne-ga on 22 Feb 2004 01:01 PST
 
Thankyou researcher and thankyou commenters too, much appreciated; the
two different angles in response to question.  I was not actually
looking for THE definitive,or quite accurate, answer to query; more
like thought there was some stats around on likely success if I put up
offer now, thats all.

 Thanks again to all,

   John

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