Launched earlier this month, Creative Caravan is a property listing service for people working in the creative industries, devised to help film directors, make-up artists, painters, photographers, etc find a place to (sub)let or swap.
The Australian service aims to make it easier for people who are constantly on the move find short-let properties at short notice, anywhere from Northamptonshire in the UK to Sydney in Australia. How it works? Registration is free for anyone wishing to browse or list a housing ad. No payment is made until the user has found a property they'd like to rent or swap with, at which time they pay a monthly membership fee of USD 35, or an annual fee of USD 70. Update: Creative Caravan's founder has decided to make the service entirely free of charge. Besides access to a property owner's contact details, membership also includes an RSS feed of suitable properties. Creative Caravan vets each member to ensure they are in fact a creative professional. However, as it is too resource-intensive to check every property, pictures and communication between members is greatly encouraged.
Will the niche service be able to compete with established behemoths like Craigslist? Creative Caravan feels there's a degree of trust in sub-letting to someone from the same industry, making both parties feel more comfortable with having a stranger inhabit their home. Network-building and a shared focus on aesthetics could be added benefits. One to set up for other groups or categories?
Website: www.creativecaravan.net
Contact: www.creativecaravan.net/contact
Hmmm strikes me as kind of snobbish, and dim-wittedly snobbish at that: their site says "In the words of New York photographer 'Amanda' - 'I don't know how many times I've walked into a sublet appointment from Craigslist and been met by bankers, cowboys or lunatics - a complete mismatch!' " -- like, good heavens, a banker! The main problem here is that the service is predicated on the false idea that there is such a thing as global community of "creatives" -- in .nl, for example, that term also includes oleagenous advertising execs and city bureaucrats and vague "consultants", not to mention stinky squatters who only imagine themselves as painters and poets. And for my money, I'd much prefer a friendly and stable "banker" than a sketchily pierced "life artist" (and unknowable hangers-on) whose greasy braids and underfed dog will permanently foul my furniture. But that's just my two cents.