The real estate market shifts and changes daily and so do the customer’s needs and requirements, and sometimes, a little push is all it takes to motivate buyers to make that final decision to buy a property.
As a result, some real estate agents have become creative in the incentives they offer. From modern cars to living in a house for free, here are a few of the most exciting incentives I’ve seen in recent years.
Living for free in the house
Believe it or not, it’s possible to live in the house of your dreams for a whole year — for free! Kirkwood Homes, a real estate developer based in the U.K. recently implemented a new way of motivating buyers to buy its properties.
Anyone who reserves a plot will receive a voucher of £19,000 (more than $24,000 USD) — enough to cover the costs of living in the house for a whole year! The voucher can be used for a variety of costs, including carpet and flooring, curtains and blinds, land and buildings transaction tax (LBTT), legal fees and removal fees.
Buyers can choose between 51 detached house floor plans that include 3- and 4-bedroom terraced homes.
Expensive cars are a big draw
It has been a common gesture for builders to offer house appliances such as a dishwasher, an air conditioner or a stove, but certain builders will go even further to motivate buyers.
Back in 2013, Kylemore Communities, a builder from Markham, Ontario, Canada, offered $35,000 CDN (more than $26,000 USD) toward any new BMW car with a purchase of a condo in one of their developments.
Then, in 2015, Century 21 Bamber Realty, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, offered a brand-new Tesla car — a gift valued at more than $100,000 — to the buyer of a $2.349 million home that was listed with the brokerage.
Many people question the motive for giving away big, expensive gifts, but brokerages and agents who opt for this strategy realize that the expensive gift may help prevent losing hundreds of thousands in price drops.
These agents know that human psychology works as some potential buyers see these luxury gifts as something that’s worth more than a discount, even if that’s not really the case.
Help the community that helps us
As a token of appreciation for the individuals who help protect the community and livelihood of everyone, U.S.-based homebuilder K. Hovnanian offers to cover $5,000 of the price of its homes.
This incentive is open to anyone in the civil service sector, including emergency medical teams (EMTs), hospital staff, firefighters, police officers and military men and women. Other builders have also joined in and are offering discounts on house prices for service men and women around the globe.
A charming Italian townhouse for $1
There is an Italian town called Ollolai, located on the island Sardinia. In this town, there are hundreds of small houses that are currently selling for as low as 1 euro (about $1.50 CDN).
Turns out this town is part of a project called “Case 1-euro project” where the goal is to populate abandoned architectural towns and villages across Italy.
Around 200 stone-built houses located in Tuscany, Sardinia and Sicily can be bought for 1 euro with one condition: These homes must be renovated within the next three years. Currently, the houses are in a bad shape, so the government is trying to return the old glow to these historical Italian cities and towns.
Buyers can also apply for additional government grants and funds for reconstruction, which further reduces the overall cost of the newly acquired property.
Tacos, tacos, tacos
Last year, Albuquerque Realtor Mike Leathers was willing to shell out $500 to the future owners of his townhome listing to compensate for the tacos of their choosing. The townhome up for grabs in Albuquerque was listed for $174,900. Five hundred dollars, that’s about 333 Taco Bell tacos.
While this is just a sample of the more elaborate incentives we’ve come across, there are many other interesting incentives, including assured sales (guaranteed purchase if you decide to sell your property), shopping sprees, personalization packages, free trips to exotic locations, $3,000 Apple gift cards as well as the more conventional furniture, window coverings, credits for non-recurring closing costs, etc. and more.
A little creativity is all it takes.
Mustafa Abbasi is the president of Zolo Realty in Canada. Follow Zolo on Facebook or Twitter.
