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The Things You'll do to sell a home!
August 29, 2014

I was going to write my blog today on sellers tips, when I got to thinking, "I wonder to what extremes will people go to sell their home." Needless to say, my blog has changed for the day, although these are definitely some intriguing selling techniques, I'm not sure I would actually go to the level that some of these sellers will go to!

In a sellers market, making your home noticeable may require some ideas that aren't, well...traditional.

1. Offering elaborate extras - Once upon a time offering someone a big screen TV in exchange for a signed mortgage contract was enough, but in today's market we apparently need to step things a bit! Offering of a free car, vacations, a furniture stipend, free gas for a year and even a full year's mortgage is becoming the norm. In one story that I read this morning, a seller offered a free pontoon boat with the purchase of his lake front home. This brought potential buyers out, just to see what was "really" going on. The story went on to say that the house sold, but the boat did not go with it. The boat was kind of a "beater".

2. There may be someone out there that is looking for a home such as yours, while what you are looking for is what they have. There are websites out there that will actually connect the two of you together and you can "swap" homes. This could work in a few different instances. If you have two sellers, one that wants to down-size and one that wants to up-size, then the swapping of the homes could work out perfectly. In another case, if one of the sellers is looking for an investment home. They could purchase one of the homes, improve it and re-sell when the market bounces back.

3. Don't just have an Open House, have an Open House PARTY! Complete with wine, live music, catered food, raffles and door prizes and invite everyone! Just because someone isn't interested in buying a home right now, it doesn't mean that they don't know someone who is looking. What better way for someone to see the home? Brimming with life...instead of cold and stuffy with only coffee and thin mints to take with you. If nothing else, buyers will definitely take notice and remember your house!

4. And last buy certainly not least...let the potential home buyer sleep over - What? Really? Okay this one took me by surprise! Kind of taking "Let me sleep on it" to a whole new level. It would definitely let the buyer have the full experience of living in your home, but I would check with your Realtor (or an attorney) before I take this step.