selling house...disney vacation incentive..what do you think

[StitchesGr8Fan]

When I tried to sell my house 2 years ago, my agent said I paid her all the commission, then she gave the buyers agent their cut. She did an incentive for the other agent out of her commission. There may be tax implications to what you want to do, so ask your agent. And I agree that not everyone loves Disney. Cash is probably a better option.

 

[chris1gill]

You could offer an additional 1% to the buyer's realtor, this would be done on the listing sheet, the buyers would never know it (less effective IMHO). To sell the house however I would do everything you could to de-clutter the home, neutralize it. Consider it as no longer your home and make it inviting to everyone. We've sold three homes including a vacation home in the last 5 years and we've had great success. The most important key is to price your home appropriately. If you haven't done anything for curb appeal, for a few hundred dollars if need be you can make attractive changes outside. I actually have found that essentially staging the home for less than a thousand dollars (if that) has moved our homes for close to asking price in remarkable time.

 

[Jenny3]

I'm a realtor; I've often seen (and I have received) a buyer agent incentive - usually cash, paid at closing by the seller or seller's agent. I never pushed that particular house on my Buyers; it just happened to be the one they chose.

Twice I have offered the Buyer an incentive on my listings - both times it was a free 32" flat screen TV with an acceptable Agreement of Sale. These were listings that were in a first time buyer's price range and both times the home went under agreement fairly quickly after I offered the TV. Not sure if that was a coincidence or not, but my Sellers were happy. Cost them a minimal amount (around $150) and the house sold.

 

[Sinderelly]

Why not rent your points and and use the $ to offer an incentive gift to each the buyer and the realtor? Maybe something like a gift card to a home improvement store for the buyer and a nice dinner or bed and breakfast stay for the realtor?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am selling my house and thinking of offering a 5 day hotel stay at akl to the realtor who brings the buyers as an incentive to get more traffic. I found another house and want it to sell quickly. What do you think of this as an idea

I would offer the choice of smaller amount of cash or DVC stay to broaden the range of appeal. When we sold our condo, we offered $1000 bonus to the selling agent + $2000 toward closing costs for the buyer with a full asking price offer. Really helped to move it. Dh went to realtor school & passed the test but it was really hard to get selling & making $$ & we were struggling on my income. He ended up going back to his old field.
He suggested our incentives & said it's done all the time. Not illegal (here) or unethical.

I agree with others that not everyone wants to go to WDW. It's kind of like houses with an inground pool. Some love it, some would avoid it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Why not rent your points and and use the $ to offer an incentive gift to each the buyer and the realtor? Maybe something like a gift card to a home improvement store for the buyer and a nice dinner or bed and breakfast stay for the realtor?

Cash speaks louder than anything. One size fits all!

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I agree with the others who recommend a cash bonus to the buyer's agent. Our friend is an agent and he has mentioned theses types of incentives before...they do work sometimes!

 

[cats mom]

I don't think that this is that common, but the logic is that realtors can only show so many homes to prospective buyers. When there is an incentive on a house, the realtor may either consciously or subconsciously put a house with an incentive to themselves on the list to show.

I think that cash may be the better incentive though. A hotel stay would end up costing a ton in travel/ticket costs to the realtor.

Yep, I know offering an incentive to the realtor isn't a unique idea. I just don't know that it's all that effective.

We once looked at a house where the seller was offering a substantial cash bonus to any realtor who brought an offer that resulted in a closed sale by a certain date. Our realtor told us all about it before showing us the house because she said she didn't care for those kinds of tactics and she wanted to be completely transparent. Of course the info was also right there on the MLS sheet she printed for us.

As a prospective buyer I was a bit put off by it. It made me wonder if something was wrong with the house that the seller had to bribe realtors to show it. Plus I would have been the one buying the house, not the realtor, so why not offer me the incentive, or better yet, a lower price.

Honestly pricing appropriately from the start is the most effective sales tool there is, and a well priced house really shouldn't need additional bonuses or incentives to get people in to look at it. JMHO

Good luck OP, I hope you're able to sell quickly, whatever you decide to do about the incentive.

 

[espana94]

Why don't you rent your points and use the cash that you make from the rental transaction to provide a cash incentive for a closed sales contract? Or, use the rental cash to pay a portion of the buyer's closing costs?

 

[brockash]

I just don't think that's how it works....I'm not even sure if it's something they are legally, or at the very least ethically allowed to take??? I could be wrong, but it just seems odd.

 

[barbarabini]

thanks to all who posted. I have decided against it. You have all made alid and persuasive points. I don't want to convey something is wrong with the house. I guess I will have to figure out something else to do with the eiring points. Everyone's comments were very insightful.
Thanks, op