Home Trade Club

Using Property Trades to Create Real Estate Sales

Why? To create new sales opportunities in a challenging real estate market.

What? “The Home Trade Club™” is a matching service that identifies compatible “Haves” and “Wants” for Home Trade Club™ Members.

• “Haves”: Existing property available for sale

• “Wants”: Desired property to be purchased

Who? “Home Trade Club™ Members” are licensed REALTORS® representing properties with clients that are open to exploring trade opportunities.

Where? “El Dorado, Placer, & Sacramento Counties”

How? “Collecting & Sharing Information”. Information is collected, analyzed, and provided to Home Trade Club™ Members as matches are identified.

The “Home Trade Club™” (www.HomeTradeClub.com) is a matching service with weekly meetings and an online discussion forum – all designed to match the “haves” and “wants” of our clients. REALTORS® from all brokers are invited to participate.

The intent is to review and discuss our listed properties in an effort to match the objectives of one or more of them and arrange to have these parties buy one another’s houses, should matches be made. Agents are still paid commissions, as negotiated, as each set of sellers are buying a new property. Sales and purchases are conducted in the same way as in any other transaction, through an escrow company. This is merely an alternative way of initiating market activity.

As an example, we completed a three-way “trade” in 2007. Client A wanted to purchase a more expensive home – Property B. Client A had their home listed, but with no buyers. Client B built Property B as a spec house and was looking to sell it or have a smaller income property to rent out. Client C was looking to buy a home of the same value in an adjacent neighborhood. Client B preferred Property C over Property A. Client C wanted Property A. So Client A purchased Property B, Client B purchased Property C, and Client C purchased Property A. Everyone got the property they wanted, all in the absence of traditional non-contingent “buyers”.

Sellers aren’t actually “trading” houses, but buying one another’s properties – in essence, it is akin, in the example above, to a transaction in which all three properties are contingent upon the sale of the other properties involved, with all escrows closing in unison.

The idea behind all of this is to turn sellers into buyers, as opposed to everyone waiting for buyers to come along (which are in short supply in relation to the inventory, given current market conditions). Kathie managed a similar club in the early 90s (without the aid of computers and the Internet) and there were many successful trades.

If you are a homeowner looking to sell your property and buy another property within the area, the Home Trade Club™ may be of help to you.

If you are a REALTOR® have any listed properties with sellers looking to move up, down, or across in the tri-county area, the Home Trade Club™ may be a great resource for you to assist in networking with other agents to put together a deal for your clients.

Here are answers to frequently asked questions:

Q: Are there any costs or dues associated with participating in the Home Trade Club™?

A: No, there are no fees or dues. The DeBord Group manages the Home Trade Club™ in an effort to spur networking across all brokers and REALTORS® in the area. Our hope is to help initiate market activity (i.e. sales) in the area, which is good for everyone. There are many properties on the market with motivated sellers looking to move – the idea behind this service is to meet those needs in the absence of a proportionate number of traditional buyers.

Q: How do our clients “trade” properties?

A: The idea is to find “trade” opportunities, but in terms of how it works, it is not much different from any traditional purchase or sale. In the event a match is found, the two (or more) parties simply purchase one another’s property. If one is of lesser value and one is of greater value, the party with the lesser valued property will need to bring the necessary cash or financing to ensure the values match. It is, in essence, a mutually contingent transaction, in which all parties involved (two or more, depending upon the deal) are in escrows that are contingent upon all others in the transaction closing.

Q: What kind of trades are there?

A: The possibilities are limitless, but there are some that are more prevalent. Some sellers are looking to move to a smaller house for a variety of reasons – to lower their mortgage, they are empty nesters, they are looking for something that requires less maintenance, divorce, etc. Some sellers are looking for a larger home – their family has grown, they would like a bigger house, they have new specific needs (such as a large full office), etc. Some sellers merely need to move within the area to be in a certain school district. Some people have purchased custom lots with ideas of building their dream home, and now simply want to move into something finished. Some spec builders would be happy to take a lot in trade for their spec house, as they will want to build another spec house in the future anyway. And not all possibilities need to match between just two parties. It is just as likely to be a three-way trade.

Q: If these are trades, does that mean REALTORS® do not get paid commissions?

A: No, and this is one of many reasons why properties must be listed in order to be eligible for consideration. Listed properties have listing agreements with clearly specified commissions for the listing agent and selling agent. All Home Trade Club™ transactions involve the purchase of properties under the same framework, rules, guidelines, and regulations as any other real estate purchase in California. These transactions also require as much work, if not more, on the part of each REALTOR® representative, so such commissions are earned as expected.

In short, the intent of this service is to network with other agents to review and match the objectives of one or more listed properties and arrange to have these parties buy one another’s houses, should a match present itself. Agents are still paid commissions, as negotiated, as each set of sellers are buying a new property. This is merely an alternative way of initiating market activity.

If you are interested in participating in the Home Trade Club™ and do not currently have your property listed, please contact Kathie DeBord of RE/MAX Gold at (916) 716-8886 or Jason DeBord of RE/MAX Gold at (916) 813-1797.

Upcoming Meetings

Home Trade Club™ meetings are held periodically in order to exchange information and discuss potential matches and trades.  Our meetings are held at various locations..

Of course, any real estate agent from any region is invited to participate in any and all meetings, regardless of location. We simply hope a periodic change of venue may lead to involvement of more agents in adjacent communities.

The next Home Trade Club Meeting is to be announced.

Contact Jason DeBord of The DeBord Group at (916) 813-1797 or jason@debordgroup.com with any and all questions about the Home Trade Club.

Submit Your Own Trade Listing Online

Submit Your Home Trade Club™ Listing Online

REALTORS® can use this form (Online Submission Form) to submit listings that have clients open to trade possibilities:

Non-REALTORS® may also use the same form (Online Submission Form) to submit their own properties for consideration if they are open to having their home listed.

The Home Trade Club Featured in Luxury Home Magazine