It's a tough real estate market out there and frustrated home sellers are starting to get creative.

KING

A home goes up for sale in this file photo.

Neighborhoods are littered with for sale signs, but few people are buying right now.

Darrell Benton had his Camas, WA. home listed for 6 months and didn’t get a single bite. He was tired of waiting for a buyer, so two weeks ago he signed up on several home swapping sites.

“Within 2 days I had several people offering to trade their homes”, said Benton. He hasn’t found a deal yet, but he’s happy to finally have options. At least a half dozen websites that feature house swapping have popped up in recent months.

Some of those web sites include:

Online house trading

House 4 trade

Go Swap

Domu Swap

Craigslist

The house swapping process is simple. The equity you have in your house can be used as a down payment in the house you’re trading for and the equity the other party has in their home can be used as a down payment on your home.

Benton is open to making home swap deals all over the country including Arizona and Florida two of the hardest hit real estate markets. He thinks it might be the perfect opportunity to find a sunny place to spend his upcoming retirement.

Marci McReynolds of Vancouver is being much more specific in her house swapping technique. She wants to trade her two Vancouver rental homes for a single home in Northeast Portland. “I really see the culture moving toward more bartering and stuff so I said this appeals to me”, said McReynolds.

House swapping is not without risks. For one, you don’t know who you are dealing with over the internet. Also be aware that some realtors have started to list homes on these swapping sites so depending on the deal, you might not avoid paying commissions.

Even so, Both McReynolds and Benton believe house swapping might be their best chance to sell homes in a sluggish market where traditional sales techniques are not working very well.