I have (had) a listing that has been on for over a year! It is modestly priced but the area it is located in is historically depressed. It is now a "rated" County and is a good 45 minutes from a center of good employment opportunities. The Owners are teetering on the edge of a"Short Sale".
The Owners were one of my first Clients. I sold them the house...they made the mistake of a re-finance at the wrong time. They have re-located to NC because of employment changes and are in an apartment. They have been desperately trying to hold on....
Here in New England the smell of Fall is already in the air. The nights have been as low as 40. We are coming into Heating Season.
I had been trying to convince them to bite the bullet and lower the house to where it needed to be. We all knew they wouldn't be able to afford the $1000/month it will cost for oil this year.
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A few days ago I got a phone call from a woman who had been driving around with her husband, in my listings area, looking for rental signs. They were writing down random Realtor numbers and calling looking for a Rental. They were both originally from the area, she was about to have another child and wanted to be back near her family. When she called she repeated her story to me adding that no-one she had spoken to had any rentals available. I told her that my Seller may be willing to rent.(We had discussed rental before but my Clients weren't keen on it and were concerned with the oversite of the property. But now....it was looking a lot more attractive! )
To make a long story short....my husband agreed to oversee the property. We did a credit check on the interested family. They have a few small blips but are still good prospects. They can't afford as much as the mortgage...but will be paying a chunk, plus heat and electric. They are interested in a possible rent to own. I told them which issues they need to clean up and will be setting them up with a Mortgage Broker towards the end of the rental agreement if they have shown a good payment history.
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So...if it all works out, we may have a win win.The burden is lifted off of my Clients, I got a Rental Commission and could potentially have a Buyer for the house in about two years!
Boy, times have changed ......but creativity still works! 
Concord NH Realtor