Status: 02/12/2023 10:43 a.m
The supply of real estate is particularly scarce in metropolitan areas. If the owner is looking for a new place to live, exchanging an apartment or house can be an alternative.
Swapping instead of buying or renting is a new trend on the housing market. In search of the perfect exchange partner, tens of thousands of people in Germany are already registered on portals. This includes the Baumgarten family from Wiesbaden, whose condominium has become too small since their son Philipp was born seven months ago.
Since then, things have often looked like this for them: Mama Inma and the little one play on the carpet in the living room, while Papa Christian sits behind them on the sofa and works from home. And then there is Sophia, the four-year-old daughter.
The 110 square meter apartment doesn’t offer more than a children’s room, and that’s also where the parents’ wardrobe is. Philipp still sleeps in the extra bed with his parents, but it shouldn’t stay like that forever.
Other real estate offers on exchange portals
“We then immediately went to Immobilienscout and noticed that the market was completely empty,” says Inma Baumgarten. “There weren’t any interesting objects, and so we thought: Okay, we have our apartment to offer, and maybe we can get objects through the exchange agency that we wouldn’t otherwise find on the open market.”
This is how I got in touch with Julia Feldkamp, who specializes in real estate exchanges, a year ago. The broker actually had many offers in the program that the Baumgarten family had not previously found on the usual real estate portals. For Feldkamp, this is the decisive advantage when exchanging: “I have a number of properties in my files from customers who only want to move if they find something perfectly suitable in return.” The exchange simplifies this path, as both parties make a decision at the same time.
The Baumgarten family’s apartment has not yet been found on any conventional portal. So far, Julia Feldkamp hasn’t had a suitable exchange item on offer for the family; But Feldkamp has no doubt that she will find an exchange partner for the apartment in the middle of Wiesbaden.
From crazy idea to business model
The fact that she specialized in property exchange two years ago was pure coincidence. After separating from her husband, she was looking for a new apartment herself in 2019. The family’s 140 square meter house had become too big for her. During this time, the architect got into conversation with a business partner who told her that he was looking for a house in Wiesbaden.
“So I said, ‘That’s a great coincidence, we can swap places’. It was like a crazy idea, and we actually met the next day.” It worked, the crazy idea was sealed – and Julia Feldkamp still feels very comfortable in her new apartment.
But the real estate swap hasn’t just changed her personal life. After this experience, she decided to quit her job as an architect and open her own agency, Change Your Home. Even if she was initially laughed at by many, she believed in her plan and quickly realized that the demand was great. She and four employees now have far more than 500 exchange objects in her file.
How does the real estate exchange work?
When customers have agreed on an exchange, the respective objects are professionally valued. For example, if the house is then worth 800,000 euros and the apartment 600,000, the exchange partners have to agree on the equalization of value – in the example given 200,000 euros. A contract is then made with the notary.
But beware: there are additional costs lurking here that you have to take into account. Depending on the federal state, the real estate transfer tax is between 3.5 and 6.5 percent of the purchase price. The broker’s commission ranges from three to more than seven percent. For the notary and the land registry, there are costs of around two percent.
The Baumgarten family is still a long way from signing the contract. But you don’t have any stress either: After all, you don’t have to sell your own property. Your three-and-a-half-room apartment in the middle of Wiesbaden has a value of 650,000 euros, which you would get if you exchanged it. The doctor and the management consultant assume that Philipp will need his own room in three years at the latest – enough time to find an exchange property.