Have Fla. condo -- seek Ohio house

A woman who wants to move from Florida to Ohio has found that her condominium in Bonita Springs is a hotter item as a house-swap than for sale.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kelly Masarik, now renting in Akron, had been trying to sell the condo for months, without getting a nibble, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Monday. So she put ads on Craigslist.com and DomuSwap.com -- that's a Web site especially for people who want to trade houses.

House swapping has been a vacation option for some time. With the real estate bubble bursting, people who need to relocate are considering it as a permanent thing.

Mararik has also been e-mailing, asking real estate brokers if any of their clients would be interested in a swap. She asks house sellers the same question.

About 40 people have expressed interest, she said. While many of them have houses she is not interested in, there are some, including a farm, that she finds alluring.

Masarik tells potential traders she is not looking for the ideal house, just for something that will get her closer to what she wants than Bonita Springs.

"At least there's a haystack," she added. "Now, I've just got to find the needle in it."