How to Make Sluggish Property Move

OK. You’ve painted your teen-age son’s purple bedroom a nice, neutral antique white. You’ve gotten rid of the clutter in the family room and moved your bowling trophies to your brother-in-law’s for temporary storage. Most important, you’ve lowered the price of your property below the neighborhood competition.

And your house still won’t sell.

Before you give up completely, realty specialists have suggested you consider some small yet relatively inexpensive steps that could make a big difference.

“You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your house move,” said Sandy Sadler, a sales manager for the nationwide Prudential Preferred Properties realty chain. And anyway, spending a little to get a quick sale is better than letting your property languish unsold for months while you pay the carrying costs, she pointed out.

Many of the steps designed to spark a quick sale increase realty agents’ incentives to see your home and want to sell it. Remember, professional realty people often have a big influence on which homes are seen and bought.

“When you’re in a market with an enormous number of homes in inventory, the more your home is seen by agents in a favorable light, the more you increase your odds of selling the house,” said Dorcas Helfant, president-elect of the National Assn. of Realtors.

Realty specialists offer these pointers for making a sluggish property move:

Ask for a “brokers’ open house.”

Open houses for buyers, though commonplace, rarely sell property. They are more effective in helping a realty agent make contacts leading to future sales and listings. But a so-called “brokers’ open” can be a powerful event in sparking a sale, realty specialists say.

What is a brokers’ open? It’s an open house solely for realty people working in the area surrounding a home.

Until an agent sees a home, it’s a mere abstraction in his mind. Agents are often reluctant to take prospects to homes they have not personally visited.

Because of that, homes that are previewed have the potential for preferential treatment, especially if they are in good condition and show well.

“Nobody wants to take the chance of showing a client something that goes ‘ruff-ruff,’ ” Helfant said.

The point of a brokers’ open is to draw as many realty people as possible.

Weekday lunches or weekend patio parties are good lures. As an eager home seller, you may want to pitch in--preparing food or arranging for entertainment. Everything from a tuba player to a palm reader has been tried.

Try a business card contest as a good gimmick for drawing a large crowd, Helfant suggested. Each agent that attends the brokers’ open drops a business card in a fishbowl. At the end, the agent whose card is drawn gets $100.

Offer a bonus to the agent who brings in the buyer for your home.

It can be a straight monetary reward--anywhere from $250 to $10,000, depending on your financial capacity and the value of your property. Or it could be a gift, such as a color TV or week’s vacation at some sunny resort.

“This is a technique that’s very effective, yet very few people use it,” said Robert Irwin of Los Angeles, author of the book “How to Sell Your House in a Down Market,” published this year by Warner Books.

Offer help toward a buyer’s closing costs.

“There are a lot of first-time buyers with little cash and younger families moving up with little equity,” said Sadler of Prudential Preferred Properties.

Step up advertising on your home by agreeing to help shoulder the cost.

“You want your advertising to be consistently active throughout the listing period,” said Irwin. But remember, your home is just one of many that your agent is advertising. And his ad budget is undoubtedly limited.

Tell your agent that if he doubles his current level of advertising, you’ll cover the extra cost, if no one buys the home within a specified period.

Improve your home’s aroma.

You live there, so it may not be apparent to you unless you ask the opinion of a neighbor or good friend. But odors created by pets, humidity, cooking, or rotting produce in your refrigerator can be an enormous turnoff to a would-be buyer.

Change the entrance way into your home.

You may have repainted your son’s room the neutral shade recommended by your agent, decluttered the place and brought in new Persian carpets. But if your front door is unimpressive, you’ve lost the opportunity to leave an important first impression with the buyer.

“For $100 to $300, you can get a magnificent front door that changes the character of your house and makes it exceptional. A mahogany door, even a painted door, can give you the aura of a better house, while a scruffy door can make even a nice house look bad,” Irwin said.

If you can’t afford a new door, there are other, less expensive ways to make your entrance way look more impressive.

Mount a classy new light fixture next to the door or put up a polished brass door knocker. If there is an outer screen door, remove it.

“Having a screen door makes the main door look imprisoned,” Irwin contends. “You can stand a few flies when you’re selling your house.”