posted by Catherine on Jun 12
An Ocean-Front Villa with large pool, hot tub and home cinema!
If somebody who owns that villa wants to rent your small city apartment just above a Chinese Restaurant then you are in luck!
House Swapping is just that – both parties have got to agree that they want to live in each others houses. Therefore if you have a desirable property no matter what size or shape – someone may well want to swap with you.
There is a small risk as obviously you have to leave all your furniture and personal belongings in the house and they know that you are away for however long you agreed – but then you are in their house with all their personal possessions – so it works out sort of even!
Why Is This Eco Friendly?
Well, it isn’t bad for the environment in any way.
You are not encouraging the building of more hotels in a developing country and you are not feeding all your money into giant multi-national companies. You will be shopping in the local stores and mixing with the local people.
You will visit and support the local places of interest and natural parks as well as bars, restaurants and other stores, helping to keep that town ticking over. The person who is living at yours is also therefore, helping to support your local community in the same way.
You don’t need to pack loads of your clothes, medicines and toiletries to weight you down on the way there as they have everything at their house for you to use. And if you picked the right house, they may even have things there that you don’t have at your own home!
And it could save you a fortune in hotel fees!
What Are The Down Sides?
Obviously, there will still be a certain amount of travelling involved and this can be within your own country or abroad which is totally your choice.
The most important part of this ‘swap’ is of course what you can get to swap your house for. Depending on where you are and what your home has to offer, you may be restricted in what is on offer for you – but just a quick look at some of the market leading sites will show you that there are thousands of people out there looking to swap.
Also, it will be dependant not only on finding someone who wants to swap – but someone who wants to swap and has got the same dates as you in mind! Obviously you can’t go there at different times!
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