Do incentives help someone with a hard to sell home sell it faster?

A homeowner asked me what my experience was with using incentives to attract buyers and sell homes more quickly. The next part of the question was what were some of the buyer's incentives that were being offered by anxious sellers to get their Coeur d'Alene homes sold faster.

I quickly went down a mental list of my seller clients. A couple selling to move up into their "forever" home.  A woman is getting married, and a man is getting divorced. A retiree on 11 acres has bones that hurt and can't keep up the property any longer. A builder has a spec home to sell. One seller has a tax bill to pay and needs to sell an investment property. I have a fellow who sells a parcel of land when he needs a cash infusion, and he's there. Three of my listings are investment properties that went south, and are now in short sale situations. There are a few underwater homeowners attempting to avoid foreclosure through short selling. And then, there's a nice family who is answering God's call to another state.

Often, my sellers are in stressful situations. Some days I feel like a therapist. I advise them on things that they can and should be doing to increase their odds of selling success, but some things are simply beyond our control. Although inventory is low and competition is fierce for good entry level and affordable homes, homes in higher price ranges are still slow to sell.  Buyers are scarce in certain price ranges.

As for incentives offered to buyers, all frustrated sellers are trying to come up with SOMETHING to attract a qualified buyer in their price range. My personal experience is that incentives don't work in the way they are intended. People base their purchasing decision on the property they find that best suits their needs and desires, and that they perceive as a good deal. With the exception of financial incentives in the form of closing cost assistance that may make the difference in whether or not a buyer has enough cash to close, the incentives tend to become a nice bonus on a purchase they would have made anyway.

Some of the incentives that sellers of mine have offered, that were never collected, were ownership in a week's timeshare at the ski mountain; 6 months mortgage payments; an extra % of the purchase price to the buyer's agent; installation of a dock; Kroc Center annual membership; and the more typical appliances, furniture, and points paid.

It's been my experience that a seller will be successful in selling their house if they focus on keeping the property in good showing condition as well as priced correctly for the market in their neighborhood. These are both things that I advise my clients on. Call me if you would like to learn more about how to increase the odds of getting your home SOLD in Coeur d'Alene!