House Swapping Version 2.0

Welcome to House Swapping, Version 2.0

Let’s cut to the chase.
What is going on? Where is the old site? What the….
Simply put, it’s time for a change. It’s time to embrace Web 2.0 and community driven content.

When I began Domuswap in June 2007, there were a few swapping sites out there, none of them gaining much traction or publicity. I believe we created a better site than what was out there, but most importantly, we publicized the message, in the Wall Street Journal, Money magazine, TheStreet.com, and many major other news and TV outlets. As the message got out, other new and existing sites also partook in the publicity, helping to spread the message and promote house swapping. I’ve also met many people who are promoting house trading. Among the many, Daniel Westbrook of Onlinehousetrading.com and Greg Holt of Pad4Pad.com, have been the upmost professionals in all my interactions with them. I wish them, and others, the best of luck using the existing model.

However, I believe the model needs to change. Not that the existing model is not a good model, but, I hate to admit it, I’ve been disappointed with the results. I can, and will, talk about this, and how it could be improved, more in the future.

Domuswap is embracing a listing format more attune to Craigslist, something I’ve disparaged in the past. However, we are bringing that approach into Web 2.0, promoting community driven content, better social interaction, more hopefully a more fun experience.

Domuswap version 2.0 is currently a fairly blank slate. Let’s see what YOU can make it into, and hopefully swap some houses in the process.

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Comment by Tom Legg on December 27, 2008 at 3:10pm: this site is otally unusable as a swapping site. There is no way to filter searches by town or area or to search for those seeking what I have. If you wanted a blog, you should have started a blog. If you want a trading site, this format does not work. I had great communications going before the change. Whith the change it instantly stopped. Back to ree.com I guess

Comment by S. Post on December 8, 2008 at 3:05pm: I miss the old site too. David (Moskowitz)--would it be possible for you to email all of the old domuswap.com users to let them know about the format change? That action might generate more "listings" on this site. Many folks just post their listing and sit back and wait for emails without logging on (I am guilty of that sometimes)--those folks won't know about the change in format and thus, we lose a lot of options.

Thanks. PS--If the Housing Swap section of Craigslist is your model for this new version, can you make it work a little more like Craiglist? This site seems to be to have some flaws. Thanks.

Comment by jerry on December 4, 2008 at 3:09pm: You need mandatory templates with required info to be filled in. leaving it up to individuals to add with specifics is a waste of time. I find this site near impossible to use effectively. What, where and how do you enter info is also a maze.

Comment by MichaelK on November 26, 2008 at 2:56am: I like the new existing site better...it allows for more dialogue and direct interaction.

Any suggestions on trading for people who are upside down on their property. Our home lost a considrerable amount of equity. It is worth less than half of what we paid for it at the top of the market back in 2006. Who would have ever thought that other people at the time were getting loans with bad credit, no documentation and practically no incomes. This inflated the prices so much that good honest people like us got hurt really bad and are now holding properties that will never sell in the next 10 years for what is owed on them. My home in California today is worth less than what it would cost to build; land, labor and all. I could of course do like a lot of people and throw the keys on the front doorstep and walk away but there is this thing called integrity which I hold as something to be real. I signed the promise-to-pay note. So, I would like to point out that even if I found someone to trade with in a (they buy mine-I buy theirs situation), no lender would even consider financing for me or for the other party because of the negative appraisal values of the properties involved. We need some government intervention. There is all this talk about the foreclosure people getting some assistance but what about the negative-equity-loss people like me and millions of others. If anyone can give me a few pointers...please.

MichaelK

Comment by MichaelK on November 26, 2008 at 2:27am: Dave,

I like the new site better. It allows for more interaction and more person to person dialogue. However, the house swapping thing may not be that easy because many of us who want to trade are upside down on the property. In my case, we lost over 120K in equity. In other words the home is worth 120k less than what we owe. Even if we found someone to trade in a (you buy ours-we will buy yours situation) no mortgage company is going to lend (even a great credit holder) the cash to purchase an upside down property. Any suggestions?
What the wall street guys did to us to inflate the 2006 prices in the housing market caught a lot of us by surprise. My house is not even worth the cost to build it today and that is labor and all.

MichaelK

Comment by Rosemary on November 24, 2008 at 9:01pm: If it aint broke, don't fix it. Hate this new site. What the $%^#$# happend to my account and info. I was working on with the old site. Too bad. You lost my business.

Comment by jeffrey johnson on November 15, 2008 at 2:30pm: I cannot access my house listing...can you tell me what the new address is? thanks

Comment by Ron&Renee on November 10, 2008 at 8:41pm: Hello, there,
My husband and I just joined as we have decided to attempt a swap. I never saw the old Domus site, so I can't weigh in on that. I can say that I feel optimistic about this site as most of the comments are thoughtful, intelligent and helpful--a real change of pace from the average site.

Comment by Stephanie Whitfield on November 8, 2008 at 9:21am: I'm outta here!