Today’s home buying market – still a “buyer’s market” – is producing a variety of gimmicks or incentives to attract qualified buyers. A study recently focused on those incentives and identifying ones that worked most effectively. When consumers were asked what incentive appealed to them most when buying a home, three out of four chose “closing costs paid.”“Not surprising, this would represent a bottom-line savings of several thousand dollars in normal closing cost fees and services,” said Mike Bearden, president of HouseHunt, Inc., the real estate related Internet firm that conducted the survey. “In contrast, only two percent of respondents chose a paid trip or vacation as their top incentives.”Listed in second place as incentives were free upgrades, named by 9 percent of respondents. In third place was “free property inspection,” followed by “free appliances” and “flooring credits.” The incentive scoring last was “landscaping credits.” The survey also showed that it’s taking longer to sell a home in today’s market – no news to any current seller.
It now takes an average of a bit more than 60 days to sell a home, with sellers getting about 95 percent of their asking price. Multiple offers have almost disappeared.