My home for yours

US: The worldwide financial crisis has sent house prices crashing. Many Americans have lost their homes, while others are having trouble selling theirs. But what do you do if you have to move to another city and can’t find anyone to buy your house?

Some inventive homeowners have found the answer: a house swap. Internet sites such as Craigslist and DomuSwap contain real estate advertisements for house swaps from all over the US and Canada.

House swapping is often simpler and usually cheaper than conventional real estate deals.

House swapping has another advantage for both buyers and sellers: they don’t have to pay the fees of real estate agents, although they still need lawyers. “The simplest cases are when both people own property and they exchange deeds,” David Moskowitz of DomuSwap told Maclean’s. “In some cases, a difference is paid, where one party owes the other money if the homes have different values.”

Moskowitz started DomuSwap in 2007 when he was having trouble selling his own home in Florida. He says, in future, real estate agents are likely to become more involved in the house-swap trend, by charging fees to arrange swaps.