To sell that house, pretend you're on first date

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 14, 2006 at midnight

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If you pay the asking price of $2.45 million for the home John Fritzel recently built at 470 Steele St. in Cherry Creek North, he'll throw in either a new $73,000 CLS 550 Mercedes-Benz or a $68,000 GL 450 Mercedes SUV.

Not that you have to take the vehicle. Fritzel, principal of Paragon Real Estate and Development Inc., doesn't care whether a buyer drives away with the luxury auto or uses it as a concession to knock down the asking price.

That's what happened for a house he sold in Hilltop last month.

"We did not get the full asking price" of $2.15 million for the Hilltop home, he said. "The car was little more than a negotiating tool. That was fine with us."

Although it's uncommon to offer a car as an incentive to buy a home - and some Realtors consider it nothing more than a gimmick - sellers are searching for innovative ways to move their homes in a tough market.

"Things are tough, and everyone knows that," Fritzel said. "You have to think outside of the box."

Fritzel recently had Morton's Steak House cater a meal for 35 to 40 brokers at the house in Cherry Creek North, a residence with almost 6,000 square feet, including the 1,783-square-foot basement.

"I had all of the heavy hitters," he said.

Liz Richards, a broker with Leonard Leonard & Associates, compares selling a home to going on a first date.

"Getting a house ready for the open market is much like getting oneself ready to date after a hiatus from singledom," Richards wrote in a recent newsletter. "You've been there and you know what I'm talking about. When you aren't on the market, either as a home or person, nine times out of 10 you get a bit relaxed about the details because you are not in competition mode. And competition is, especially in this market, of hideous abundance (I'm talking homes here)."

There are about 31,450 unsold homes on the market. A record 31,900 homes were actively listed in June.

Richards goes on to say: "Much like going out on a first date, the first encounter people have with your home can make or break their desire to see it again."

Often, less is better when trying to sell a home, she said, especially when it comes to clutter.

"People get very distracted and disturbed by excess," according to Richards. "(It is) much like someone wearing too much make-up or too many accessories, an excess of tchotchkes and/or mess are a real turnoff. If you have pets, ensure that there are zero pet odors. Just like someone that shows up for a first date with body odor, a home that smells bad will most likely not get a second visit."

One of Richards' pet peeves is Realtors who let their sellers put restrictions on when prospective buyers can look at a home.

"Guys, can you imagine how you would feel if you called a gal up to ask her on a first date and her reply was that she needed 24-hour notice, you were only allowed a one-hour window, and only Tuesdays-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will work?"

John Lucero, owner of Lucero Real Estate, says today's market reminds him of the sluggish times he experienced when he first started selling homes some 15 years ago.

"For me, I have gotten back to the basics," he said.

But he recently offered a twist.

"I have a contest where the broker who is closest to the days on market of a home I'm listing gets a $500 prize," Lucero said. "I just came up with the idea. I'll see it if works. I figure most homes are sold with a co-op broker anyway, so I want to see if the drawing will stir up some interest."

Rob Murphy of RE/MAX Alliance said he is listing homes on six or seven different Web sites to increase the odds of catching a buyer's eye.

"It's a tough time to have listings," Murphy said. "In today's markets, buyers get cold feet."

He said he also bought an ad in the Pasadena Star News in California, where home prices are much higher, with hopes that somebody might consider cashing out of their home there and getting a much bigger and nicer one here for a fraction of the cost.

"I used to live in California, and I like the small newspapers more because an ad would just get lost in the L.A. Times," Murphy said.

He thinks the Denver housing market is poised to recover more quickly than some might expect.

"I've been an investor in real estate for 25 years. I can tell you Denver is incredibly positioned for a rebound," he said.

Independent broker Gary Bauer said he thinks pricing the home right is the most important thing, although he's trying to persuade one seller to offer a small travel package to a buyer.

"We haven't seen these kind of gimmicks since the late 1980s after the oil business moved out of Denver, and they're not widespread," Bauer said.

Jim Nussbaum, a broker and owner of the Kentwood Co., also isn't a big fan of gimmicks such as giving away cars.

"Here's the thing," Nussbaum said. "The buyer pays for it one way or another, so why not just give the buyer a little better deal? It just seems cleaner to me that way. More than anything, I'm being tough with my sellers on price."

Shai Egosi, who sold his home in Centennial this year after he had it professionally staged, said he was surprised by the latest sales gimmick in Florida, where he now lives.

"In order to sell homes here, they're actually hiring actors," he said. "You can go to an open house and you see actors pretending they're husband and wife celebrating a birthday or something."

Fritzel, the builder willing to give away a Mercedes, said that is "very interesting. That's not happening here. But our market isn't as bad as the Florida market."

He said the Denver area is lucky it didn't have the huge run-up in prices and the subsequent drop when demand dried up, as in other places such as Florida, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207

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