Thinking about throwing in a new car with your home sale, or perhaps offering your broker a bonus to move your property? Forget about it. Price discounts are the most effective way to get your house sold in today's housing market, according to a Bloomberg.com article by John F. Wasik. "Buyers just want price," he quotes one real-estate broker and consultant based in Stuart, Fla., as saying. "Buyers have become more educated and they can easily cut through the fluffy incentives," he says.
Mr. Wasik notes that about 2 million homes may fall into foreclosure this year and that living near such a property could slash as much as $5,000 from your house's value. In many markets, homeowners should offer an asking price that's at least 10% below the competition, he says. He points out that in Boston and in Calif.'s Orange County and Sacramento, more than half of the homes on the market have already been reduced.