I caught up with Jenifer Weigand, the woman who is trying to swap her 7,200-square foot, 8-bedroom, lakeside North Carolina estate for a house here. 
“The ideal place for me would be Huntington Beach, one of those four-bedroom homes with a bonus room in Edwards Hill or Seacliff on the Greens,” she said in a telephone interview. ”Those were my two favorite areas.”
Do you remember her Craigslist ad? I spotted it last month. She’s since taken out another one:
“Seeking PERMANENT SWAP of OUR fabulous waterfront retreat near Charlotte, North Carolina for YOUR home in coastal community - Huntington Beach/Newport Beach, etc. - in OC. Conceivably, you could swap your home in OC for a waterfront home over twice the size in NC! [4+ bedrooms and pool-sized yard preferred, Edwards Hill/Sea Cliff in HB, for example, would be great for geographic/personal reasons] Even swap, trade up or trade down considered for the right home for us.”
Weigand, a stay-at-home mom, and her husband, who owns an energy consulting firm, lived in Cowan Heights before moving to North Carolina a couple of years ago for business reasons. But they have strong friendships in Orange County and prefer the Southern California weather, she said.
“My husband always promised me we could come back,” she said. They’re living in Huntington Beach already, so her daughter could start school, but looking for something, as she put it, ”slightly” bigger than where they are.
Here are the photos of the Cornelius, North Carolina house and a map.
CLICK on each to enlarge:
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In addition to the Craigslist ad, Weigand said the couple will be working with a company that specializes in house swapping.
Cornelius, N.C.
So how prevalent is this? A story last year in the Wall Street Journal said:
“The concept of trading homes temporarily for vacations has long existed, but now it’s being adapted to the slumping real-estate market as people, particularly in the Sunbelt and other slow spots, scout for ways to unshackle themselves from their property. Anecdotal evidence suggests the number of people doing this is still relatively small, but it has popped up from virtually nothing in recent years.
“While some form of bartering has been going on since the beginning of time, experts say they aren’t aware of house swapping being done in previous down housing markets. The technology and access to it didn’t exist several decades ago. The current model is based on new technology that enables computerized matching of a large number of properties and owners’ swap criteria.”
Related:
Got a big house? Want to swap it?
Read more:
lady you wish!