Property: Buy my home..and Ill give you a pounds 10k cruise

Sunday Mirror, Jul 3, 2005 by ANDRE FRIEZE

YOU could get a whole lot more than just the keys to the front door when you buy a house. Sellers are now offering all kinds of extras to attract buyers, ranging from luxury cars to cruises, to thousands of pounds of shopping vouchers. ANDRE FRIEZE investigates

SUPERMARKET shoppers are always on the look-out for a good deal a half-price bargain here, a few loyalty points there, as well as everyones favourite buy one, get one free.

Of course its not an idea limited to a trip to your local store. To attract new house buyers, developers offer a whole range of offers, such as paying all legal fees or even mortgage-free periods.

But as the housing market slows down, even private sellers are getting in on the act throwing in something extra to grab the eye of would-be buyers.

And the higher a propertys price tag, the more you are likely to get as well as the house.

In the West Country you can even get your own private zoo if you agree to buy a 12-bedroom house thats up for sale.

On a smaller scale, a three-bedroom town house in Surrey comes with the resident peacock.

If you are not so keen on animals there are plenty of other incentives on offer such as cars, boats, or even a luxury cruise.

But do such incentives actually work and persuade potential house buyers to sign on the dotted line?

John Lawton, of Torquay Real Estate Agents, is not sure that these gimmicks really work.

If a house isnt selling, you have to be patient and just stick at it, says John.

Sometimes it may be a question of improving the advertising, or vendors offering to pay the stamp duty.

The best incentive of all is a property with no chain. These properties are always the ones that move the fastest.

Generally, a good house will sell, whether it has a free gift attached or not.

And James Underhill, new homes manager of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, says even the countrys major developers are split about whether incentives work when it comes to attracting buyers.

"On the one hand you have a developer like Berkeley Homes who don't do any incentives at all," says James. "They believe their product is strong enough to support itself.

On the other side of the coin it can deteriorate into a bun fight with developers trying to outdo each other in what they offer in the form of incentives. There has been a marked increase in the number of houses being offered with free cars, but buyers should be careful. These are often replacing, not supplementing, financial incentives which were previously on offer such as free legal fees, free stamp duty and mortgage-free periods, adds James.

So if you are selling your own home is a free gift really worth your time and money?

Offering additional perks is an innovative marketing technique, and therefore attracts additional interest, says Nicholas Leeming, client director and co- founder of Property Finder.com.

But, whether this is the right sort of interest, and whether the cost of the perk is reflected in the bid ultimately submitted, is very doubtful.

HOWEVER, private sellers Mark and Gail Wilcox are convinced of the advantages of a giveaway. Their four-bedroom house in Kilburn Park Road, London has only been on the market for a month for pounds 499,950, yet they are still offering a pounds 10,000 cruise to New York to the successful buyer.

Mark, 45, and his wife Gail, 39, say that as the market is competitive at the moment, they wanted to stand out from the crowd immediately.

This offer is a way of creating interest, as well as being a lifestyle statement, says Mark, a video producer.

The couple had heard of someone who had given away a car with a house, and decided that a holiday would be the thing their potential buyer would like the most.

Weve done up this place completely, using good quality materials to complement the original features.

While doing the work we imagined the kind of people who would live here, and we came up with a luxury cruise on the Queen Mary to New York, with first-class return flights as the perfect break.

Gail comes from New York originally, so we would really enjoy sending the new owners of our house off to our favourite city.

For Gail and Mark, this offer is not something they have dreamt up after months of frustration at the lack of finding a buyer.

As Mark says: Were selling our home privately, which is still a new way of doing things in this country.

The cruise is part of our selling strategy. Its ultimately a way to draw potential buyers to the property. If the buyer doesnt want the holiday, we can negotiate, but its also our way of saying thank you to the buyers after all the stress that's been involved in the buying process.

CALL Mark Wilcox on 07808 580 668, or see the website at www.noagentnofee.co.uk

..or a pounds 7.5k Rolls-Royce

ANDREW Ely came up with a novel way of attracting a buyer for his three- bedroom bugalow throw in a Roller.

The bungalow is very unusual as it has a 42ft long underground garage thats big enough to take six cars, including a Rolls-Royce, says Andrew, 46, who also happens to be a car dealer.