Incentives to Woo Buyers and Sell Your Home

Flashy incentives like a new car parked in the driveway or a flat-panel television hanging in the den might sound like a good way for home sellers to woo buyers in a dismal real-estate market. But when it comes to actually enticing someone to buy a home, it's the more practical perks that count.

Effective incentives address what's on the minds of potential buyers — the overall cost of the home and the monthly payments they'll have to manage.

Incentives can be considered when the home is first listed, as a way to distinguish it from the start.

They can also be added when the home hasn't sold in two or three months, as a way of enticing a buyer without lowering the price. Or the incentives could arise in negotiations, when a buyer needs that one extra little nudge to commit.

Make no mistake, the location and condition of a home are going to be its main selling points. But if sellers "put on their buyer's cap" and really consider what issues the buyer might have, it could make all the difference.

Here are six of the most common incentives being used in markets today.

June Housing Starts up 2.3 Percent

The pace of home construction rose 2.3 percent in June but building permit activity, a sign of future construction plans, sank to its lowest rate in 10 years, signaling further weakness in the listless housing market.

Housing starts set an annual rate of 1.467 million units in June compared with a revised 1.434 million unit pace in May. Economists had forecast June housing starts to drop to a 1.45 million unit pace from the 1.474 million unit rate originally reported for May last month.

This latest data comes a day after another report indicating that home-builder confidence is sinking as mortgages become more difficult to obtain, with banks tightening their lending standards.

The continued sad news in the housing sector could make this the best time to buy a home in over a decade.

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Four Easy Home Improvements

If your house needs a makeover, but remodeling is beyond your reach, try these four simple fixes:

Touch-up exteriors. Repainting the trim and front door of your house can significantly boost its curb appeal. This kind of retouching work is easy on the budget and can be done in just a couple of hours.

Replace your floors. The widespread availability of affordable "floating floors" (flooring options that can be installed on top of existing boards or linoleum) makes updating the floors in your rec room or pantry a cinch.  You'll probably save a minimum $500 to $600 dollars by doing it yourself.

Update your hardware. Switching out old light fixtures and faucets is a simple, affordable way to modernize your home. While you're at it, equip your house with fixtures that support halogen light bulbs to save money on your electricity bill.

Transform your yard. Landscaping doesn't have to break the bank.  Replacing overgrown shrubs and bushes and adding some flowers for color is an economical way to add value to your home.

Many home repairs can be easily mastered by determined do-it-yourselfers, but there are still some things best left to the experts. If you need to re-floor your entire house, contact a flooring service, and call in the electricians whenever you're dealing with circuit boards or wiring in the walls.

Rent-to-Own Real Estate Deals - Beware!

Rent-to-own contracts that substitute for mortgages and conventional home loans are enjoying a surge in popularity in several regions of the country. The slumping real estate markets in parts of the U.S. fuels these deals, where homes can sit on the selling block for months at a time.

Add to this the recent tightening of rules and regulations for bad credit loans and a near perfect storm has been created for rent-to-own scenarios. It sounds like a great way for home sellers to speed up the sale of their home.

While the benefits of rent-to-own arrangements may seem strong, both the buyer and seller need to be aware of problems that can result from poor planning.  Get the complete story here:

Housing Slump Could Last Til Year's End
The U.S. housing market will continue to slump for the remainder of 2007, with home sales falling further and price growth continuing to slow.  This word from a leading industry economist, David Berson, vice-president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, said 2006 and 2007 combined will show the biggest drop in sales since the housing downturn of 1989-91.
An increase in mortgage rates over the past few months, particularly in the past month, will soon have an additional negative impact on housing demand, according to Berson.
He expects new and existing home sales to decline by 10.2 percent in 2007 to the lowest level since 2002. Single-family starts are expected to fall 21.7 percent.

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