Finding it hard to sell your property? Listen to Albert.

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge. If you are having trouble selling your property then it may be time for some imagination. Let's suppose that you've got your price right and that you are somehow getting your home in front of the buyers eyes. What then is the problem? What are you doing wrong? The standard (and usually the only answer) from agents is, that it's your price. No matter how much you've dropped your price it seems they want you to still go lower. But what if your price was right and your exposure was adequate. Or more accurately what will you do if you can't drop any further and you can't afford more exposure? Well perhaps it's time to take a leaf out of uncle Albert's book and fire up your imagination. I'm talking about a situation where you simply must sell no matter what and you don't want to get a shellacking because you're in the situation of having to make a sale fast. You can get imaginative and pull the rabbit out of the hat whether you're selling your own home or an agent is selling it for you. Here are a few ideas for those times when selling is not so much an option but rather has become essential. If you can afford to then offer to give the buyer a rebate in cash. This idea works on several levels. Firstly there is no shortage of people who wouldn't appreciate a nice cash injection when they settle on a home. Many people are cash strapped after buying because of all the associated costs. I even imagine that some prospects for your home wouldn't mind paying a little over the odds for that facility.Think about it. You win because you sell sooner. They win because they get some much-needed cash. The banks even win because they get to write a new loan and create more money out of thin air.It's entirely possible that you could slightly increase your price, give a rebate and still come out in front. Especially when you look at the alternative of having to sell lower than you would have liked. Another strategy would be to offer some portion of your home on barter. Usually that portion might be the deposit but any amount on barter will at least attract attention. You may not even end up doing a barter deal but at least the offer of one will get your house noticed and make it stand out from the crowd. Now the simplest way to do that is to join a trade exchange and then you can actually use their resources to find a buyer. Some trade exchanges have eager barter buyers waiting and they can sometimes number in the thousands. Again if you can't afford to drop some cash component to make a sale then perhaps up the price a little to compensate for the trade deal. Keep it reasonable though as buyers whether cash or barter still don't want to pay over the odds. Having said that I don't doubt that many buyers would be quite happy to pay a premium for a part barter deal anyway. To make this strategy work doesn't necessarily mean you have to even join a barter organization, although it's a great thing to do anyway. Instead you can get creative and allow a buyer to give you his car as deposit. Perhaps you needed a car and perhaps he needed help with the deposit.This same idea could apply to any other product or even a service that you were happy to accept in lieu of cash. You might take a boat as deposit and then on sell the boat later. In my real estate sales career I have seen people accept all manner of things as part deposit and a sailing boat was one of them. Some other strategies might involve writing a delayed settlement clause in that suits the buyer. If you need the money right away (as opposed to just a guaranteed sale) then maybe you can offer a delayed settlement on the majority of the money and get a release on part of the funds. Another tactic is to offer vendor finance to a buyer. This method is simple in principle and it can also be simple in practice but you will need to get some good papers drawn up and seek sound legal advice. Of course this often will only suit the more asset rich sellers and they usually employ the method as a cash flow strategy whilst retaining the ultimate legal title over the real estate being sold. Yet another tactic might be to throw in something that will give a lot of real or perceived value into the sale. Maybe the old grand piano that would have been a monster to move anyway. Or if you were selling a horse property you might throw in riding lessons or offer to work the property for a short time later. Only you can decide what you have that the buyer might want. Get in his shoes and ask yourself what apart from price would make your property attractive. The answer is often found in the structure of the deal or it's timing rather than just the price. You need to woo the buyer like you would woo a suitor. Ok perhaps not quite that far but you get the picture don't you. Make your proposition unique and sell the idea in your ads for the home. To hark back to Einstein, who may or may not have known anything about real estate, If the facts don't fit the theory change the facts. If your house isn't selling do something because the facts are that people aren't being sufficiently moved to take action. That action might be an inspection or a phone call from your ad online. Albert also said something along the lines of – The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. The market is talking to you and if you are going to sell your home you need to put your imagination to work. If you are selling your own home then it's your responsibility and if your agent is doing the selling then insist on some new strategy that doesn't just include – drop your price some more. Andrew Blachut

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