From Hairpin To House: TikToker Lands Her Dream Home For Free By Swapping

KEY POINTS

Demi Skipper traded 28 times before ending up with a home in Tennessee
She once swapped a Chipotle "Celebrity card" for a trailer worth $40,000
Skipper will renovate the new house and start the swapping process again

The pandemic has brought forth several innovative ideas, especially for one California woman who set out on an adventure by trading a single hairpin and ended up with an actual house.

Demi Skipper started the process in May 2020 with a plan to swap her way up to a house, and documented the journey on social media. The 30-year-old, who runs the TikTok account "Trade Me Project," became a homeowner Sunday.

Starting with a hairpin, Skipper made 28 swaps and landed her a home in Tennessee. She has been documenting her journey for her five million followers on TikTok, and 289,000 followers on Instagram. Skipper used each item and swapped it for something bigger and better every single time.

The San Francisco resident used craigslist, eBay and Facebook to make her trades.

A post shared by instagram

"It's been so surreal," she said to NBC News. "Working towards something every day for more than a year and half, and now I wake up and think: 'Is this actually real? Is this actually my house?'"

At one point, she was able to acquire a Mac book, diamond necklace, a peloton bike, several kinds of vehicles, a tiny cabin and an electric bike food truck.

"There were just so many negative people saying it wasn't possible. I was willing to do this for five years if that's what it took to get to the house," Skipper said, KGO reported.

During her journey, Skipper also faced criticism on TikTok when she traded three tractors for a Chipotle "Celebrity card." But, the trade proved profitable when a Chipotle fan offered to trade an off-the-grid trailer worth about $40,000 for the card. The trailer led Skipper to her dream home. She got the keys to the house one day after thanksgiving.

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Now, Skipper and her husband are planning to renovate the house starting January and go through the process once again.

"I want to donate the next house I trade to a person who needs it, no mortgage, no rental," she said to NBC News. "There's been a couple of people who have done this once, but no one's crazy enough to do it twice."