Cubans looking to swap their homes for a change of scene
Many Cuban-Americans are eager to buy property on the island as a second home, and as a result, prices have skyrocketed
Brigitte Garcia mills around a leafy Havana street, holding up a handwritten sign with a description of her home: a two-bedroom unit close to the capital’s Old Quarter.
Every weekend for the past two years, Garcia shows up at the same spot on Havana's Paseo del Prado, a pedestrian promenade, hoping one of the scores of other people milling about with signs of their own, takes an interest in her offer.
Known as the Bolsa de Permuta de Prado, or Prado Exchange, this corner of the city has over the years turned into a kind of improvised venue for real estate transactions.
“I don't want to sell, but to exchange my house, because real estate brokers put exorbitant prices on the houses and that discourages potential buyers. So you wait and wait but never solve your situation," said Garcia, 37.
I don't want to sell, but to exchange my house, because real estate brokers put exorbitant prices on the houses and that discourages potential buyers. So you wait and wait but never solve your situation
But so far, she has had no luck at the Prado Exchange, where she aims to swap her conveniently located two-bedroom for a larger house in a less-fashionable district.
