Patricia Houlihan

I was just told today that a seller in Vancouver is not only paying a good commission to any realtor who brings a buyer for his home but is also throwing in a car! Last year I was surprised to hear that a seller in San Diego had listed his home and was including a luxury sports car as part of the package to encourage buyers to offer on his home.  That is a pretty amazing extra for a prospective buyer!  The Deep Cove market is definitely slower-like the rest of the lower mainland and incentives help- I have to admit that on one of my own properties (ie. a property I own and am selling) I have not only lowered the price to where realtors are telling me it is too low (but hopefully that will attract buyers) I have also increased the commission that I will pay to the buyer's realtor and I am paying the successful buyer's realtor an additional cash bonus.....the theory is just as some buyers' realtors won't show listings where they are not getting paid a high commission, maybe some buyers' realtors will make an extra effort to show my home because they will make more money if they sell it.  I think that if the market remains slow, a lot of sellers will be willing to pay additional commission as one more way to make their home stand out from the crowd and increase the likelihood that it will sell.  We'll see what happens!