Sellers Sweeten the Deal to Attract Buyers

Need to give buyers some extra incentive to choose your listing over the large inventories of others? Sure, price will get their attention, but some incentives may be the extra motivation needed to get the deal to the closing table.

Here are a few common extras that are growing in real estate transactions.

Home Warranties: Home warranties, which can cover the repair or replacement of many home system appliances and components (such as air conditioner, water heaters, and more), can provide buyers with some extra confidence when purchasing a home. "Home warranties are appealing to buyers because they cover appliances and system components that a new home owner has no familiarity with," says Lelia Chapman, vice president of field sales for American Home Shield. "Sellers benefit from offering a home warranty because it sets the home apart from the rest of the competition in today’s saturated market, often leading to faster sales at better prices."

Seller financing: With tight credit nowadays making it difficult for some to get a loan, some sellers may even offer financing to get a deal closed. Seller financing, in which the seller is willing to hold the loan, has become more common. Seller-financing is generally offered at a higher rate that is capped at a few years and then requires the buyer to pay off the loan or find new financing.

Furniture: Furniture can be costly to move anyway so more sellers are offering some of their furnishings to sweeten home deals too. For example, if sellers are moving to a condo, in which lawn care is no longer their responsibility, throwing in that riding lawn mower may just be the extra incentive a buyer needs. Some home sellers also may even offer to sell some of the furniture to the buyer at a discounted price to earn a few extra bucks.

Creative offers: Some home sellers are getting more extravagant and creative with the incentives they are offering to buyers. Some have even offered a week’s vacation in Hawaii or thrown in a time-share ownership, which they wanted to unload anyway.

Written by Realty Times Staff