Got to hand to some folks for the creativity they are expending when trying to sell a home these days. Here are some of the more creative methods I have seen lately:
An Upside Down Auction - The owner is calling it the "Bothell Countdown". Each week the price on this home goes down in increments of $5-10K. As a potential buyer, you can sign up for email updates to keep track of price reductions and other updates.
Win A Home For $200 - All you have to do is write a 100 word or less essay about your dream of owning a beach home on the Oregon Coast, pay a $200 entry fee, and the home could be yours!
Buy One House, Get One Free - A developer in the San Diego area recently offered home buyers a free, 2,000 square foot home in Escondido if they purchased a home in the Royal View Estates development in the San Pasqual Valley of San Diego.
Jump On The Foreclosure Tour Bus - Spend the day on bus looking at Foreclosed properties. This tour operator currently covers five states. For a limited time they have reduced the cost of admission from $297 to $97. Looks like you can not only get a bargain on a home, but on ticket prices as well.
Go Green, Get A Prius - If you buy a green home in Encanterra (AZ), from Shea Homes, you get a free hybrid Toyota. Hurry, this offer only good thru June 15th!
Finally, my personal favorite...
Stake Your Life On Your Home - The buyer of this home will be the named beneficiary to a 10-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy. If the home owner dies in the next 10 years, the price of the home ($498,900) is covered. In case you are a betting person and wondering about odds, the owner is 69.
Then of course, there are the incentives. While this isn't anything new for, particularly for builders, home owners are now also testing this technique. An article ran in the Boston Globe a few months ago quoting an agent who has sellers giving away things like: four sixth-row tickets facing the Lakers bench, VIP parking, and use of the "Royal Room" private lounge; a Harley-Davidson; a year's pool service; and association dues for a year.
I wonder if any of these homeowners considered the crazy marketing idea of pricing their home right with accordance to market conditions? :)
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