'Permanent House Swapping’Option Arrives In NZ

'Permanent House Swapping’ Option Arrives In New Zealand

From today New Zealanders wanting to put their residential properties on the market have a new listing option that brings a model familiar in other parts of the world to New Zealand for the first time.

Generally known as ‘permanent home swapping’ - as distinct from temporary swaps or holiday home exchanges - this new option reflects a popular international trend that has filled a gap for those home owners who are looking for a different approach to finding a new home.

Put simply the model works according to this simple proposition: “I’ll buy your house if you’ll buy mine”.

Wellington businessman Seamus O’Sullivan launches a specially designed website today at www.Homes2Swap.co.nz based on and dedicated to this model.

The motivation for setting up Homes2Swap came to Mr O’Sullivan after he and his wife started researching options for moving from their ‘empty nest’ to a smaller home.

“Given what has been a very flat market, we wanted an alternative option to the traditional sell and buy. We found that permanent home swapping, which is based on the very practical old-fashioned idea of bartering, is exactly that option, but it just hasn’t been available here on a national level until now”.

“Homes2Swap is also an option where everyone can be a winner,” says Mr O’Sullivan.

“By giving buyers and sellers an upfront option where they’re in the driver’s seat, Homes2Swap eases the stresses and strains of ‘selling to buy’. Instead it allows people to focus on the value difference between their two properties and to settle on that ‘cash difference’”.

Mr O’Sullivan says that the Homes2Swap website will effectively provide a neutral and privately managed match making service.

“We effectively provide a ‘middle man’ role for people who meet three criteria. Generally speaking they will, firstly, be quite open minded and motivated about the property market. Secondly they will be prepared to do their own homework at the initial stage. And thirdly they will be committed to the key part of the model, which is closing on a deal simultaneously”.

“When people mutually agree that they’ve found a new home that they want to trade up to, or down to, it’s up to them to bring the experts in to seal the deal”.

“Through Homes2Swap it’s desirable and possible for everything to line up at the same time, right through to possession dates. Homes2Swap does its bit by providing the online venue and facilitating the initial contact before stepping aside”.

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