Imagine this: You have just been offered your dream job in New York. There's only one problem. You can't sell your Los Angeles home because the market's slow. What do you do? Turn down the job offer? Rent out your home and become a landlord from 3000 miles away? If only you could find someone in New York who needs to move to LA, you could simply trade houses.
This idea of home swapping is becoming a reality for an increasing number of sellers who have been unable to find a traditional buyer for their home. Sellers get connected with other sellers in the areas to which they hope to move. Accurate numbers on this home swap trend aren't available but owners of popular home swap websites guess that 40,000 or more homes are listed on such sites according to the LA Times.
A variety of sites and marketing channels exist to promote homes for a possible home swap. One of the most prevalent is www.Pad4Pad.com. According to Inman News, over 5,000 properties have been posted to the site since its creation in February. This emerging house swap trend has built the most momentum from Florida, where selling a home or condo has been all but impossible recently. Sellers in Arizona, Colorado, and Illinois have also begun to join in the home swap trend, according to Greg Holt, CEO of www.Pad4Pad.com. And sellers in other markets are starting to catch on to this alternative home selling approach.
This trend has mostly been spearheaded by motivated sellers whose homes did not sell through a traditional real estate agent. After six months or more of waiting they decided to take on the headaches themselves of trying to market their homes. Unfortunately for sellers, "Website owners complain that real estate agents have been slow to see the potential of home swapping," according to a recent LA Times Article. But some agents are using home swapping strategies as a part of their marketing approach to serve clients.
At BeautifulPasadenaHomes.com, we incorporate home swapping strategies into our home listings, especially for sellers looking to move out of the area. "You may be able to find a match on your own, but we've researched where home swappers are most likely to look and can get your home in front of their eyes, and save you time and headaches in the process," says Dave Knight, a Realtor in Pasadena, CA.
The Los Angeles County real estate market is ripe for home swapping. With so many people moving in and out of the area, there is a high probability that LA sellers can find someone to swap with in many parts of the country. Don't make the mistake of listing your home with an agent who only markets your property in a 50 mile radius. We can get you more info on home swapping and how it can help meet your selling and relocation needs.
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