Two couples decide to swap homes permanently
Two couples have agreed to permanently swap homes in a rare move on the property market.
A young family looking for a home with more space have ended up swapping homes with a couple who wanted to downsize.
David West and his wife Margaret listed their three-bedroom detached family home in Kinross on the HouseSimple website in May. Their hope was to sell their house so they could downsize.
Meanwhile, John Davie and his wife Kelly were looking for a bigger home for them and their two-year-old daughter Lucy.
Mr Davie, a data analyst, booked to see Mr West’s house and, during the viewing, Mr West mentioned that he and his wife were hoping to downsize because their two adult children were moving out.
Mr Davie then said that he had a two-bedroom semi-detached house that they hadn’t put on the market yet.
Mr West thought that house might be right for him and his wife so suggested a house swap.
After they had seen Mr Davie’s house both parties agreed to a house swap and made offers on each other’s homes.
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An exterior view of David and Margaret West's new home previously owned by the Davie family
“The house swap allowed us flexibility on the move date and enabled us to solve moving-in issues such as finding the stopcock when I needed to isolate the water in the bathroom, and the knack to locking the patio door,” says Mr West.
The two couples officially swapped homes on 12 October this year.
“The house swap made perfect sense as both our properties had what the other wanted,” says Mr Davie.
What is involved in a house swap?
If you happen to know someone who wants to swap homes with you then the great thing with a swap is you can avoid paying any estate agent fees. But, you will still need to use solicitors to make sure everything is legally binding.
You also need to decide if it is a straight swap or, if one house is worth more than the other, will money need to change hands too. If money does change hands then there might be tax implications in the swap, as the person handing over cash may also have to pay stamp duty.
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I agree with Nicknuts, there has to be a whole lot more going on here. For example: "....The house swap allowed us flexibility on the move date and enabled us to solve moving-in issues such as finding the stopcock when I needed to isolate the water in the bathroom, and the knack to locking the patio door ..." And this is different with normal house sales? In what way? & that's it, they are the only worthwhile benefits of swapping worth mentioning? Seems to me the 3 bed link-detached sellers must be off loading a mortgage in downsizing or some major like problems with the house or area or otherwise must be pretty urgent to accept taking such a hell of a hit in the aesthetics of the 2 bed semi with the flat roof. We're not told where in the country these properties are or their respective values and despite Ruth's wholly inaccurate claim to be only contingent 'if money changes hands' regardless of even a straight swap HMRC, (if the market value(s) are above the base threshold) are still going to want their full 'pound of flesh'. So no gain there but the agent(s) might have reconsidered their fee. Come on Ruth, the real story here, is in what you haven't told us rather than what you have, incuding the irresponsible inaccuracies!
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I can't believe the estate agent didn't claim his/her cut. Also HMRC and Stamp Duty. This was a straight swap between 2 parties. What happens if a chain of 3, 4 or more parties 'swap'? So A acquires B, who has C, who has D, who has A etc. Could all such chains also avoid Stamp duty/Estate agent fees? Such chains are probably already happening without those within the chain realising. Possible web site opportunity for someone if true.
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I somehow feel this is not the whole story.
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31 December 2017