Fresno realtor Ken Neufeld believes swaps can work, but they are not necessarily an easy sell. "The problem with the traditional housing swap," he said, " is that the home belonging to party A has to work for party B and party B has to like party A's home, so there's two parties have to like each others homes and the chances of that happening are not 90% percent, it's more like five or ten per cent. "
Still Neufeld said in times like these, such methods are worth a try. He adds, "It is something that happens when the market is tough and people are being more resourceful to try to make things happen."
Paul Atmajian is just hoping he'll soon meet someone willing to give it try. "If we both agree that our houses are appealing then maybe we can make a deal."