East Valley sellers find a creative way to make a deal
House swapping likely wasn’t even seen a couple years ago when it was easy to sell a home for a great price, Scottsdale real estate agent John Wake said.
“When I first heard about it, I thought it was a crazy idea, but it might work for somebody,” Wake said.
Still, it’s a long shot, he said. And some of the people placing ads may just be asking too much for their homes, he said.
A house at the right price will sell, he said. “I think it would sell a lot more quickly than a home swap.”
Theoretically, a house swap could work but, boy oh boy, it seems like a long shot!
My biggest question about house swapping is, “What about the mortgage?” Won’t the mortgage holder want to get paid off when you transfer the title to someone else? An acceleration clause.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Evelyn // Jul 20, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Hi John, I am the one who’s picture was on the article you were quoted in. I am truly surprised how many people have contacted us about our ad, but they were all in areas we did not want to go. We figure in this market, there has got to be someone out there who is in the same situation we are in, but can’t get thier home sold. I am not looking to just do a complete swap, we are wanting to do a you buy ours, we’ll buy yours type of thing.
2 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jul 21, 2007 at 1:29 am
Evelyn,
Thanks for your comment!
Let us know if you find a good swap… or even if you don’t.
3 Cbass // Jul 21, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Evelyn,
I just don’t understand why you can’t sell your house. There are people buying houses out there. I am not trying to be antagonistic by the way, but why don’t you just lower the price and sell it. Then when you find a place that you like you can make a serious offer on it. I imagine the odds of you wanting a particular home and that home owner desiring your property are close to the odds of winning the power ball. And yes while it is true there is a chance you could win the power ball I think your efforts would be better spent elsewhere.
I would love to hear your thoughts and reasoning on this move.
4 Cbass // Jul 21, 2007 at 2:25 pm
John,
Do you know this guy? He is saying that it is no surprise that prices were going to go down? If he was aware of this possibility and even expected it, then did he advised his clients over the last year+ to wait instead of buying so they could save some money!?!?!?
“There’s no question that our housing prices are declining here,” says Jay Thompson, an agent with Century 21 Aware near Phoenix. “Our appreciation rate was 54% average at one point in mid-2005-2006, so it is no surprise to anybody here … that prices were going to go down.”
http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=5124615&;GT1=10233
5 Evelyn // Jul 21, 2007 at 2:51 pm
We got into a financial situation with a family member a while back and had to take some equity out, so unfortunately, we don’t have room to move much on our price. I have knee issues, my years of sports have caught up with me, so we are in desperate need to get out of our 2 story into a one story home. You would not believe how many people have actually been interested in our home, but they were in areas where we did not want to go to, so in your thoughts of this not working, I believe it can. This is not a sellers market, so there are other people out there in our type of situation. We know we will be “downsizing” for what we can afford right now, but this will not be our final home, so we will compromise on some things we want. There are many growing families out there who are looking for a bigger home as well.
6 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jul 21, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Clay,
Jay’s a good guy. I’ve met him twice and he has one of the best Arizona real estate blogs, although he has a lot of inside baseball for Realtors.
Here’s his take on that article. http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/msn-on-the-riskiest-housing-markets-and-thats-not-exactly-what-i-said/413
Here’s my take on that PMI study. http://www.arizonarealestatenotebook.com/2007/06/23/pmi-appreciation-study-phoenix-2nd-riskiest-market/#more-1071
7 John L. Wake - Realtor // Jul 21, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Evelyn,
I’m sorry to hear about your equity situation.
It’s a real tough deal for a family when they have to sell and they don’t have enough equity to sell without paying thousands of dollars.
I hope you don’t have to sell for job, health or family reasons. You may have to just stay put for a few years and enjoy living in what looks like a very beautiful home.
8 Evelyn // Jul 21, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I played competitive sports when I was younger, I went to Australia playing soccer, and now my knees are paying me back, so it is a health reason for why we are needing out. I love this home, we put all of our personal touches into it, but are now in an unfortunate situation. I am keeping my fingers crossed, that’s all I can do at this point. We are at least current on our payments and are not any where near foreclosure, so we are one of the lucky ones. I feel for all those families that are losing their homes because the market has fallen so much that they can’t refinance and get out of their adjustables.
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