AGT OF sadennor td vehi ee net Stent OM Friday, November 19, 1999 - North Shera News - 59 @eseeceocascoereaceeosoece eeeeeseeosveeene eae for the I’M sure there arc 2 lot of homeowners cut there who would love to take'a forcign vaca- tion next year but their money is ali tied up in high-priced North Shore real estate. Well, the solution to this may be to use your real estate to set up a home exchange vacation. 5 By doing this you can reduce your vacation expenses dramatically and have a great holiday in the bargain. few years ago we want- ed to have a seaside holiday in France but with the loonie in its perperual swoon, a traditional vacation would have cost a king’s ransom. ° So we looked into home exchanges and ended up- swapping houses with a fam- ily ina little town called - Batz-sur-mer nestled on the south coast of the Brittany peninsula. : We opted for this loca- tion because it sounded about as close to the seaside - as you can get and we ‘weren't disappointed. We were in a charming 19th century House within easy strolling distance of the beaches of the Bay of Biscay. -We had access to walking paths along the coastline with spectacular ocean vis- tas, crashing surf and always a few sailboats to watch. .. As part of the exchange. ° "we swapped cars as well as houses and ate anost of our mieals in our Fresich country garden, thereby reducing our expenses to not much more than the airfare. For this bargain price we had a great place to stay, met some interesting local neople and experienced life in a picturesque French sea- side community. It was an all around great vacation! through Intervac, a compa- ny that has been facilitating home exchanges ail over the world since 1953. Intervac currently has over 11,000 listings in 50 countries of which 75% are in Europe, 25% in North America and 2% elsewhere. - Intervac is the original home exchange company and it operates by putting your home in a catalogue that is mailed out to partici- pants, For a cost of $119 you can register your home, including a photu and all the details, in their next cat- alogue which comes out in February. In Canada the coninany can be reached by phone or FAX at (403) 284-3747 and by e-mail at . Ifyou are an Internet user you can find a lot of Web-based home exchange companies just by searching the act on keywords such as “vacation home exchange.” The internet is an ideal medium for arranging home exchanges because you can quickly and easily put the information about your home up on the net and then you can use ¢-mail to communicate with your potential swapees, Registration fecs for the internet home exchange companies are not expen- sive, ranging from about $25 to $50. However they do not have the large selection of homes that Intervac does. If you have Internet access you can peruse the on-line companies and then decide whether it is better for you to go with one or two of them or io use Tntervac. As oer experience proved, the cost advantages of a home exchange are more than just the savings on accommodation expens- es. You can also save on food by preparing your own meals and you usually swap -ears which saves the consid- erabie expense of renting a vehicle. But the benefits of a home exchange vacation go beyond the cost savings. You have your own pri- vate home with the space and freedom ‘that gocs with it, as compared to the restrictions of a hotel room. Also, you get to live See Check page 74 ADDRESS: 4820 Meadteild Cie: Parecccrcccaccceneresesessee LOT SIZE: 70" x 118’ INTERIGR SIZE: 3400 SQ. FT. woconse NUMBER OF BEDROOMS: 4/5 NUMBER GF FLOORS: 3 Pree rr rere ere rir errr ASKING PRICE: $793,000 GPEW HOUSE: By appointment LISTING AGEN Becroerccneeee=sreccvacasoone SPECIAL FEATURES: Views from the North Shore to Vancouver isiand. eee rene arerenesecerenveseoce ee veceaescvores Alice Hutcliison, 306-7230 & Christmas ideas galore ing touches on one of the store's. many Chrlatmas trees. Staff at the store gotten into the festive spirit with decorating, mulled cider and candy canes.’ All the rooms in this unique: custom home offer varieties of views: from the North- Shore Mountains to Vancouver, Peint Srey -and Vancouver Istand! Designed to take advantage of its super sunny location, the homes bedrooms and main living areas also provide an “open living” plan, ideally suited to the active lifestyle of a. family with teenage children. Situated on private cui-de- sac and close to Elementary middie schools, transportation, shopping and | the beach.