News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports | More Oklahomans Swapping Homes Instead of Selling
So many people are interested in house swapping; there is now a category for it on craigslist.
Karl Vadder put his home in Crescent on craigslist in hopes of trading it.
Vedder said people who trade for bigger houses typically use the equity from the sale of their smaller one for a down payment.By Amy Lester, NEWS 9
OKLAHOMA CITY -- In this economy, people having a tough time selling their house are trying out something different. It's called house swapping or house trading and it's more common than you may think.
People are doing this because they want to move from one state to another or from city to city. This is a new alternative to a traditional sale.
Karl Vadder is willing to trade a lot of things for his 1,800 square foot house in Crescent.
"Vehicles, tractors, livestock, other rental houses, land, just about anything you can imagine," Vadder said.
He put an ad on craigslist under the Housing Swap category; a trend popular enough to warrant its own section on the Web site. His goal is to trade this house for a smaller home.
"I've been trading stuff all my life, it's not so foreign to me," Vadder said.
Vadder is not alone; on craigslist, a homeowner in Dallas is hoping to trade this more than 3,500 square foot house for one in Oklahoma City. And in southwest Missouri, one person is looking to swap a 3,500 square foot home with a family in Edmond.
"There's nothing illegal about changing houses," NEWS 9 Legal Analyst Irven Box said.
Box said to be careful. It's dangerous to simply exchange mortgages with another homeowner because you'd still be legally responsible for the old house.
"If you give your house to someone else and take theirs, you're still obligated to pay mortgage on your house you traded to them unless the mortgage company refinances the mortgage," Box said.
Vadder says when he switches houses, he buys the new one and that homeowner buys his so neither one is tied to the old home. He insists this really isn't that odd.
"People have been trading things for 1,000 years and if we can't get the money, why not trade?" Vadder said.
Vadder said you can trade more than houses; just yesterday he traded a boat for a charter bus.
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