These websites, along with others such as OnlineHouse Trading.com, DomuSwap.com and DaytonaHomeTrader .com, say once potential swappers feel they have the makings of a match and begin negotiating, they are on their own and the process runs much like any other real estate transaction.
Having decided to swap homes, both parties need to agree on the value of their respective properties and secure fresh mortgages. Any difference in value will be paid either in cash or by using funds from the new mortgage.
A familiar process
Sites advise swappers to follow the usual steps of any property transaction, which might include visiting the property, employing the services of an appraiser and home inspector, and perhaps hiring an attorney or real estate professional to shepherd them through the closing process.
Pad4Pad's Holt said because both parties have already connected, he has found real estate agents willing to assist for a flat fee of about $700 instead of more costly percentage commissions.
Sites also suggest that people share the same title company to ensure that both deals go through simultaneously and that nobody is left holding mortgages on two properties.
Fees at the fledgling sites vary -- some charge nothing, others a one-time payment of $19.95, or $20 per month -- as owners initially focus more on building subscriber numbers than on revenue. Some plan to hike fees later, though most see greater earnings through advertising and links to real estate-related services such as mortgage companies, title insurance, banks, real estate agents and home inspectors.
Although the recent development of these websites has put home swapping within everyone's grasp, it was a different story just a few years ago, when Jerry Stussman, using a combination of real estate contacts and sheer good luck, got started.
Stussman, a self-described "guru" of home swapping, is a 67-year-old retired designer of electronic medical equipment who has successfully completed three such deals.
Four years ago he stitched together a package using four rental properties in Thousand Oaks to help acquire his current home in Westlake Village.
About 18 months ago he swapped two rentals in Texas for one in Westlake Village; and last December he swapped a home in Thousand Oaks' old town area, where he saw it steadily losing value, for one in Virginia, where he thinks the market has stabilized.
