Many people who consider buying a second home (or vacation home) face a dilemma.
Even if you can afford exactly what you want, and justify the expense, it often feels socially, environmentally and even morally wrong to have a home lying idle for the majority of the time and not contributing to the local community.
Innovative website yours2share goes live this week, with a service to help property owners make better use of their assets. yours2share believes that second homes can be more environmentally friendly and more acceptable to the local community if they are used more efficiently.
Even if people can afford the country manor house, which they only use for occasional weekends, they often find this a lavish waste of resources that pricks their environmental, social and moral consciences.
Second home are usually synonymous with holiday homes, but people increasingly need residential bases in more than one location for other reasons:
yours2share was created to help private individuals get together to share all kinds of things. People needed a way of finding each other, help with the contracts, and above all, awareness of the possibilities.
People are starting to realise that there are options beyond full ownership, permanent lodgings, hotels and sleeping on (increasingly irritated) friend’s sofas.
This is exemplified by two recent yours2share ads. The first was from Yorkshire-based member who spends two or three nights a week in London. They seek a partner with whom to buy a London apartment. This is ideal for someone who spends a few nights a month in the capital or wants a City base for weekends. Here’s the complete ad.
A second ad was from a keen sailor, who is working two or three days a week in Southampton and wondering if he could rent a 40+ foot yacht for these nights and get some occasional evening sailing too. Given the vast numbers of boats lying idle in this area during the week, this is a great way of creating some income and having someone keep an eye on your boat. Here’s the complete ad.
I spent much of last week puzzled by a huge increase in visitors to yours2share. I knew yours2share had obviously had a great mention somewhere, but where? ...
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