House trading??? (mortgages, sales, price, property tax)

[PotterGeek]

We all know the market is crummy, but I came across this and was curious if anyone knew about it or has used it...

Moderator cut: Edit link
Looks like a pretty neat concept ...(sorry realtors, don't throw rocks at me

[WendyK]

I just checked it out and it's open to Realtors, too, so no rocks from me! I just have a hard time believing that there would be that many identical matches for people looking for the same things in the same areas and the same price range. I think this might work if there were fewer listings and buyers were having a hard time finding what they want, but in this current market with an excess of inventory - chances are that a buyer would want to shop around, and not just buy the house that is owned by the people wanting to buy theirs.

[PotterGeek]

I agree, but in this market, the true buyers (ones that don't have to sell first) seem few and far between. If someone can't sell their house to buy another house, then technically that seller can't really be considered a "buyer" yet. (Unless they plan on carrying two mortgages or are extremely wealthy.)

[WendyK]

or have been renting and are now ready to buy. And, yes there are actually people who buy multiple homes in different areas for different times of the year. We see a lot of people who live in WA for 7-9 months out of the year and then head to AZ or Palm Springs for the winters.

[UseJeff]

I think the only real benefit of trading a house for another would involve property tax implications... it would allow you to avoid that high sales price and get away with a lower tax, at least until they assess it.