Gettin Creative !

Home Sellers Resort to Weird Deals Frustrated home sellers are trying an array of techniques to sell their slow-moving homes.In Colorado, J.J. Rodgers has launched an essay contest. So far, she has received more than 500 essays – accompanied by a $100 entry fee – explaining why the writer should win her four-bedroom home. Rodgers hopes to get a total of 2,000 entries or $200,000 in fees.Bob and Ricki Husick sold their suburban Pittsburgh home by offering to give back the buyer's purchase price upon their death. The Husicks also offered to throw in the couple’s retirement home in Arizona if the buyers would agree to care for the Husicks in their old age.Daniel Lasnick, a real-estate attorney in Stamford, Conn., recommends discussing deals involving quirky incentives with a real-estate lawyer. Depending on the incentive, a side agreement may be needed. Some people think the weird incentives are unlikely to have much impact. "People are offering all kinds of goofy things to get their houses sold," says Allen Butler, a practitioner in Surprise, Ariz. "But what gets a house sold really is going to be based on price and price alone."