London Olympics - How to Trade My Luxury Flat in Mayfair for Travel Opportunities
Hi Frequent Travellers - looking for some advice.
My wife and I are presently living in London (Mayfair) and have decided to get out of the city with our 1 year old during the Olympics. We live in a newly refurbished, luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bath flat located 2 blocks from Hyde Park and 2 blocks from Oxford Street, right in the heart of London. It is a very desirable property and area. It rents for about $10k per month year-round, so I would expect $15 to $20k during the olympics.
We aren't looking to rent, instead we are looking for trades. We want to use this opportunity to travel in Europe. We would trade for accommodations in 5 star resorts around Europe, or for vacations homes in Europe. We would also like to have flights bundled in. I was thinking that this could be perfect for someone with tons of hotel points and airline miles. Instead of shelling out megabucks for a hotel in London, they could use their miles/points to book a 4 or 5 star place for me and my family along with flights in exchange for my flat.
I have posted on craigslist London with no results. Does this seem like a reasonable offer? If so, do you have suggestions on where i could advertise it?
A similar question was posed recently on another forum I read. The overwhelming amount of respondents said don't even think about it.
a) no real market
b) too much risk
c) tax implications (I don't know how this would work with an exchange such as you're proposing)
home exchange sites don't work like that - trades don't include flights. (But often do include cars, boats, and all the other perks that come with the specific villa/house you trade for. Asking for more is pretty much might put many potential traders off as it is not about squeezing the most out of the trade.
Try home exchange - a well regarded site. You will be able to find places that are equivalent but w/o the flights. (There are places that go for well over 20K a month).
I'm not sure you'd find tons of people interested giving up a month in Ibiza for a month of London in Summer to be frank - but there may be some takers.
Why do you not want money? You can use the money to buy whatever you want. This makes it much easier than trying to find someone who wants exactly what you have and has exactly what you want. This is why barter did not work for very long and bankers started issuing money.
AirBnB is a good site, or post again on craigslist asking for cash.
My wife and I are presently living in London (Mayfair) and have decided to get out of the city with our 1 year old during the Olympics. We live in a newly refurbished, luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bath flat located 2 blocks from Hyde Park and 2 blocks from Oxford Street, right in the heart of London. It is a very desirable property and area. It rents for about $10k per month year-round, so I would expect $15 to $20k during the olympics.
We aren't looking to rent, instead we are looking for trades. We want to use this opportunity to travel in Europe. We would trade for accommodations in 5 star resorts around Europe, or for vacations homes in Europe. We would also like to have flights bundled in. I was thinking that this could be perfect for someone with tons of hotel points and airline miles. Instead of shelling out megabucks for a hotel in London, they could use their miles/points to book a 4 or 5 star place for me and my family along with flights in exchange for my flat.
I have posted on craigslist London with no results. Does this seem like a reasonable offer? If so, do you have suggestions on where i could advertise it?
Thanks!
I can only think that listing through an established real-estate company on a furnished short-let basis would be much, much easier than what you propose. Then take your cash and find a similar home available where you'd like to be.
Also, I think you're undervaluing the property. You pay 10k monthly on a long-term basis, short-term lets in London are generally 50-70% over cost, particularly when furnished. The Olympics should drive that price up even more. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd get an offer in the $30,000 range--taking into account that it will be much easier to reach prospective renters via an agency (which takes fees).
newly refurbished, luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bath flat located 2 blocks from Hyde Park and 2 blocks from Oxford Street, right in the heart of London. It is a very desirable property and area. It rents for about $10k per month year-round, so I would expect $15 to $20k during the olympics.
£6.3K/mo 2BR
its worth WAY more than you think
if youve looked at rentals, there are townhouses going for $20K per NIGHT
Quote:
Originally Posted by nba1017
I can only think that listing through an established real-estate company on a furnished short-let basis would be much, much easier than what you propose. Then take your cash and find a similar home available where you'd like to be.
indeed need to go through high-end/luxury broker, may not necessarily be real estate agency, and may be able to work out exchange rather than cash
Quote:
Originally Posted by nba1017
Also, I think you're undervaluing the property. You pay 10k monthly on a long-term basis, short-term lets in London are generally 50-70% over cost, particularly when furnished. The Olympics should drive that price up even more. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd get an offer in the $30,000 range--taking into account that it will be much easier to reach prospective renters via an agency (which takes fees).
i see you edited but i still say way more than $30K/mo
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Feb 4, 12 at 10:42 pm..
Every apartment in Mayfair is described as "luxury" by its owners or agents and on an international scale few are. On a monthly basis you would need something really special in a 2 bdrm apt, otherwise based on the description above maybe you are talking about 1200 GBP a week, which is not touching $9k at the moment. At this stage there is no real "olympic market" for such an apartment. Why? The vast majority of friends and family of Olympians cannot pay such money, furthermore they would have no urge to stay so far away as Mayfair is nowhere near the main Olympic sites. There would be interest in the property by agencies who flip through the different waves of corporates during the games..............but they would have booked it all up 2 years ago. Worse, as inevitably happens over the next 2-4 months they will begin dumping the inventory they do not need for less than nothing, further lowering prices (this happens at every single Olympics) One may find by the end of June that short term rental rates in London may very well actually GO DOWN as all the geniouses who horder apartments and hotel rooms start dumping their inventory. Again this always happens.
1. so youre saying £4.8K/mo is reasonable, but £6.3K/mo is nonexistent? small difference?
metropolitan hotel apts are in mayfair, and the min stay has gone from 1 week to 3 months
i recall rates of £3.5/wk when it was 1 wk min stay
soho hotel apts (mayfair?) dont have min stay, and run £1.5K/nt
i recall seeing monthly rate for annual lease, and im thinking it was £10K>£15K
although i saw that pre 2008
2. have you seen some of the prices rentals go for? the whole point is lack of supply. so last minute additions provide last minute supply. there are always last minute markets, it just depends on whether there are exact matches available.
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Feb 4, 12 at 10:42 pm..
I live in Vancouver what people found here when renting is:
a) Best success and best prices were had the furthest away from the event. Prices dropped steadily up to the games starting. This is a result of people getting desperate, and also the news constantly running stories of people who had rented their home for a king's ransom thus making others interested in doing the same
b) Best success was had with people who rented through a luxury broker. Not sure of the cut they take but they have access to the corporate clients you desire. No serious corporate client will spend 30k from a craigslist ad on an apartment they've never seen.
Good luck and don't be discouraged, I know lots of people who successfully rented their homes for the Olympics, and the Summer Games are a lot more desirable. There is big big money that comes to town for the Games so the person who replied above saying that most guests are friends/supporters of the athletes is misguided.
people with that kind of money don't read craig's list. the thing drives me crazy. i tried to buy a boat and a bike on it. the thing is for twitter freaks.
i rented a flat in london in a centre point high rise (2 king beds, full 2 bath)for 10 days-2weeks for years. rented in early jan. i see that the cost is still under £2000 a week. the central location trumps the prestige of mayfair or kenisington, or whereever.
the trade for airline tickets is absurd. think about it.
the entire deal would require me to deal with an individual and mail them money and not know who they are and what i am getting. why would i do that when i can deal with a broker who has been around for over 20 years?
go find a broker, arrange to have them represent your flat, and provide necessary services(who do i call when the power goes?) who cleans and when?
2. You are referring essentially to hotels that are apartments, so what?
I do not think that you are familiar with what happens before and during Olympic time to these speculative bubbles.
i was looking for mayfair comparables. i see location is different from OP.
2. = talking about event rentals in the tens of thousands a night
yes, those are different, because they are townhouses/houses that do not usually rent, and the OP sounds like theyre talking about apartment rather than condo/coop/etc, but the general principle remains
i am familiar with what i have seen offered by luxury brokers (not just real estate)
Quote:
Originally Posted by andyjohn1
2 blocks from Hyde Park and 2 blocks from Oxford Street
= right near brazil and iceland embassies according to google map
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Feb 5, 12 at 10:58 am..
op was talking about $20k per month. presuming he means $, not £, that's not a really bad price. bad deal for him, presuming he will have to do a serious cleaning and probably a repaint for a return.
