As the housing market becomes stagnant in parts of the country and buyers are nearly impossible to find, home sellers are becoming more inventive. Home swaps are one way sellers are trying to move their properties and get the homes they desires. Typically a home swap encompasses two owners swapping their properties and one of these owners cutting a check to cover the difference in property values. They work in a slow market when their are few traditional buyers and a glut of sellers.

Sellers typically are looking for another home while they are selling and if they can find someone selling in their target market who is also looking to buy in their present market a deal might happen.

But lets be honest,  these deals are not easy to bird dog or find. You will need to find someone to buy your present home at the same time as the seller of the home you like is willing to meet all of your criteria and their own. That is like catching lighting in a bottle, it is conceivable it can happen but not likely.

However, if you are a seller in a slow market it does make sense to try every avenue, and home swaps do fit into the every avenue category.

A tough real estate market that has seen homes languish with for-sale signs in their yards has pushed some Michigan homeowners to try to swap their residences.

Home swaps more typically are used by vacationers, who arrange to temporarily exchange homes. But owners looking for bigger — or even smaller homes — are trying to set up permanent swaps, The Detroit News reported Saturday.

Rob and Kelli Clifton want to swap their three-bedroom ranch on Lake Louise in Ortonville, about 37 miles northwest of Detroit, for a larger home near good schools. The home offers with 55 feet of private shoreline, a big backyard and a new kitchen. via MLive.com

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