House Swap, Literally!

One of my favorite aspects to the world of real estate is it always keeps me on my toes. No two days, two transactions or two clients are the same. This makes for learning something new everyday and continually experiencing firsts.

A prime example of this happened just last month. I had previously worked with a darling family 2 years ago in which we put a home in Powhatan under contract. Unfortunately, this property went unoccupied for several years causing significant deferred maintenance. Ultimately, we had to walk away. The family decided to stay put in their home and considered an addition.

To keep my clients involved and aware, I email neighborhood market activity. It is best to always have a pulse on your surroundings because you just never know when something may change! Fast forward two years and the arrival of an adorable baby boy to their family, making it a party of 5. Sure enough, something changed when a beautiful home came on the market in their same neighborhood that offered the square footage, bedrooms and open concept layout they both wanted and needed. After viewing the home twice, they decided it was worth taking a chance. I reached out to the listing agent with our offer and mentioned my clients lived in the neighborhood but needed more space and liked the thought of being able to stay in the same neighborhood, spare the headache of renovations with 3 young kids and get a bigger, better home. Ironically, the sellers also loved the neighborhood but were becoming empty nesters and needed to downsize.

Here comes the house swap! I approached my clients about allowing the sellers to see their home. We had discussed listing their home once they had moved out and had an opportunity to spruce up a few things, so they were understandably hesitant and unsure but trusted me. I met the sellers, walked them through the home and asked the agent to follow up with me. A few more visits, a contractor, an offer and some negotiation later, the sellers became buyers and my buyers became sellers!

Thanks to the full cooperation of my clients, the sellers and the other agents, we managed to successfully pull off the house swap with very little headache. The move was a delicate dance over 24 hours, but all are settling in well.

A few agents in my office approached me throughout the process and were in disbelief this was not only happening, but successfully. Needless to say, this situation does not happen very often, if ever, and I feel blessed to not only have the experience of this unique scenario, but to have had it be such an enjoyable and educational one that I am able to share with others.