House Swapping: Don't Buy; Don't Sell. Just Swap

The new trend in a soft housing market? If you can't sell your house, trade for a home in the market of your choice. The house trading market is outlined in this story: House swap

"The Sawtelles wanted to move to Georgia to live closer to their grandchildren. The Farrs needed to move to Parhump because of Amy's new job. Frustrated, the two couples found each other on an Internet web site specifically dedicated to people looking to swap houses. "--House swap

Here are other proposed markets for trading:

1. Clothing: I once wrote a story about teenagers who traded back-to-school clothes. They went to different schools and by trading clothes, they were able to double their back-to-school wardrobe and save money.

2. Toys: The boy next-door periodically swaps toys with my kids. At other times, his mother puts out bins of toys and games with which he's become bored. It's a great way to stretch a toy budget and to recycle.

3. Books: My parents live in a community with an informal library. The system works like this: Take-a-book or leave-a-book. It's a great way of finding new titles and putting used books back into circulation.