Fisher & Company's Blog

Deborah, as former home builder (40 years experience), I agree completely. One of the things I keep pointing out to eager sellers is to "make your home irresistible." If it's not dramatically better and priced aggressively against the competition, it won't sell.  Great points. I hear you, but I'm no longer building : )

I'm on pins and needles to learn your deepest sales secrets:). If the interest rate/low monthly payment is not the hook, what is? What are you doing to get buyers off the fence? Are we talking price reductions? If so, how much is enough (at least, in your markets)?

Actually, I beg to differ.  Since most first timers don't know that the interest rate is hovering at the 5's now...and the vast majority grew up in the era of low interest rates, the current buy-down is bring some people in the doors. You're assuming the home pricing is elevated to cover that buy-down. When the home is priced right; the buy-down is a great way to lower the percieved payments. The biggest change I've seen in the new home market is that people are very payment sensitive now. And, a lot can't equate mortgage rates with payments. This brings an already low payment down to the "can't miss" category, gets a new message out to the buyers and gives them  them an incentive to act now. That's what I've seen in my market, and isn't that what marketing is supposed to do?   

Good post Deborah - I like your points!! If homebuilders listened to you they'd probably sell more houses!

DM

Thanks for your comments, John.  It was just me, a marketer, looking for validation that I am not the only sane one left in the homebuilding and marketing industry. lol.  

We need to be more sensitive to getting the appropriate message in front of the prospect, and avoid using "any message in a pinch".  As professional marketers, we need to be aware that people change their email addresses every six months or so.  Therefore, in order to keep ourselves e-connected to our prospects, we need to only send content that is relative to them. Hence, my advice in an earlier post to segment your database of prospects and feed them only information that relates to them.

The risk of sending a one-size-fits-all campaign to our database of potential leads is that in the current market, one size doesn't fit all, and the temptation the recipient has is to hit delete or unsubscribe from future mailings.  That is in essence a lost prospect that we have spent $$$ obtaining.  Additionally, if you keep sending promos to prospects via traditional methods, such as DM, that don't apply to them, they will tune us out and even eventually ignore us.

Either way, it is a wasted unit of traffic, and can any of us afford that today?

Interesting points; do you have data to support that the hold back is because people are afraid that the value of the home purchased today will decrease tomorrow?  Is this speculation or a well supported opinion?  I am not disagreeing with it - just want to know the basis.

Deborah, excellent post.  You are right on.  What the buyer needs to see is perceived value and possibly future value before they will commit.

I agree- the main reason buyers are on the fence has more to do with their view of future value than of the monthly payment. I'm finding clients will take the plunge when they find a home they want to stay in for 5+ years and stop thinking of it as an "investment".

Matt: Marketers make the mistake that first-time homebuyers are ignorant of the market. They are anything but.  I have personally been dealing with homebuyers since 1979, and with each passing year the level at which homebuyers are increasing their understanding and depth of the market is phenonimal.

Today, with 87% of homebuyers using the Internet as a tool to conduct their home search, they are far more savvy than ever before, and they are unafraid to ask questions.  Most homebuyers DO know that the interest rate is hovering at 5% because it is all over the internet and they can't help but not be aware of the rate since they are hanging out on the Internet, shopping and looking for bargains, building their FACEBOOK pages and using an array of other "social networking" sites.

I learned never to assume anything in this industry.  As a marketer, I want facts, ergo I was not assuming that a home price is elevated to cover the price of the buy down or any incentive. At least not in this market. Perhaps prior to the meltdown, the incentive was rolled into the price.  As a professional marketer and former head of marketing for LARGE national (we were consistently #1) and regional homebuilders, I can tell you that I have run the numbers and done the proformas.  I know brick and morters, soft and hard costs. As Freud said, sometimes a banana is just a banana.  Sometimes a cost of sale, such as a buy down, is simply a cost that erodes our margin. It is what it is. You need a sale, so you suck it up and accept a lower margin TODAY so that you don't maintain that lot or home on your books.  We used to say that it cost us about $x a day to maintain a home in our inventory.  I have to look at that $x times sitting on that home or lot for another 30, 40 or 90 days and weigh out waiting for my price or giving the discount today. The guy in the office at the end wants numbers for Wall Street, and my big fat executive bonus (and job) depend on my getting those numbers.

First-time homebuyers being PAYMENT SENSITIVE is NOT the reason they are buying your home with your buy down. Sorry, Matt, but i seriously doubt that an interest rate buy down closed the deal for you.  What closed the deal was when you showed that buyer two things: one, that the payment they will have is less than the rent they will pay today, and two: they will have a home EQUAL in size and amenities of the apartment that they are currently in.  As a third point, the challenge today is to convince a buyer to take your home at your price INSTEAD of a rental home that is larger and cheaper per month because the seller /bank is on the hook.  In addition, with the number of FORECLOSURES out there, it is pretty hard for me to believe that a buyer is purchasing your home because of the buy down. The bank is offering them the very same deal and don't know if you noticed this, but the bank's prices are likely a little more competitive. 

This brings up the issue of builder warranty versus no warranty . . . but that is another topic (which by the way I am happy to debate the merits of.)

As for your comment about the interest rate and that your buyers can't equate mortgage rates with payments, then why for heaven's sake advertise the rate instead of the payment?  Doing so would be poor and ineffective marketing and a waste of time, money and energy, wouldn't it?

Deborah, you're right on! but it's not that home's aren't selling, it's that new homes aren't selling (at least in Southern California).

Foreclosures are still selling month over month much better than last year. So not everyone is waiting for prices to drop.  The perception is that foreclosures are the best deal and most of the Real Estate community has bought into it.

 As a lender I used to work with the largest builder in Southern California and guess what their message is exactly the same as three years ago.

If homebuyers were truly interested in "choice" would they be buying foreclosures that are trashed?

To compete with foreclosures, get down in the dirt with them. Use your incentive to buy down the rate and advertise: "Payments lower than foreclosures" (better price them right so that is true.)

Greg Cook

First Time Home Buyers Network

www.homebuyerhelpnetwork.com

951-265-4532 (mobile office)

951-699-7813 (Fax)

greg@homebuyerhelpnetwork.com

It's Too Important...DO IT RIGHT!

I don't see them buying if they are worried about equity and about losing their job.

Rene'e: talk to your prospects. Build a relationship with them so that you have the right to ask "What is preventing you from calling that home yours?"  I understand why people are holding back, and tailoring our selling and marketing strategies to meet those concerns on both the home building and general real estate side of my company.

Actually, Rene'e, a lot of what I am saying is based on thirty years of experience and understanding consumers and housing markets and planning the market strategies for large builders.  You don't get this stuff over night. It takes years to get to this level, no matter how fine of an education you have. This stuff is learned only through application, trial and error, and why so many marketing people are out of this industry and working elsewhere while long-timers, such as myself, Steve Hoffacker, Lou Ludwig, Chuck Miller, all on this AR network, are still in the game and up at bat.  We teach others what we know though the National Association of Homebuilders Sales and Marketing Council and their workshops and events, and we study through the Institute of Residential Marketing. At the same time, we are learning from others, getting their perspective and increasing our knowledge base.

My recommendation to you is to stay involved and hone your skills by reading blog posts from marketers, and learn to understand housing trend and financial reports and work that data so that you can gain an advantage over your competitors.  Participate just as you are did in this post, read and and comment.  This is an industry in which you get back what you give. 

Don't be afraid to call in an expert to help you fine tune and improve your business. Even doctors consult with one another.  If you need help in your business, bring in someone as a consultant for a short or extended length of time.  It is not as expensive as you think it is, and will cost you less to bring in a consultant than to continue to struggle.  A fresh pair of eyes and some input from someone that is skilled can actually end up generating sales and income for your company. It's likely that the right consultant will be a tool in your marketing toolbox for many years to come.

Here's to building new relationships.

Another important reason people are not buying (the one I am seeing here in NC) is that they can't say for sure if they will have a job in the next few months.  Even at 1% interest, they still have to pay something... and with no job, no income to pay that.

Low payments are great, but they are not the only thing.  Builders (are home owners) need to show clients real long term value to buying so that they are willing to take on that risk.

You don't really have any secrets up your sleeve!  Nice promo work with a little hutzpah added on the side.  You don't like their decisons?  Well they are probably being made in a donut filled room from people that haven't sold a bicycle let alone a house!  Their sales force is really not a sales force anymore and have just plain run out of ideas.  Good rant but I don't believe you have any worth while ideas either, but you think you do!

Can you say amen?! I can only speak for the Michigan market and I know that doesn't translate to a lot of other states but what is keeping buyers on the fence (who would like to buy and are qualified) is FEAR and UNCERTAINTY. It has nothing to do with mortgage rates or slick marketing tricks to get buyers to take the plunge. I'm leasing (thankfully) in a very nice suburb of Detroit. Over the last 4 years I have watched home prices in this neighborhood fall from around a $600,000 average to around $380,000. People here have learned the tough lesson that no ones job is safe and in the next year the house you'd consider buying today will most likely be worth less in a year.

Deborah, 30 years in this business warrants respect for your ideas. People buy from people they form a bond and trust with. I've gotten sales by listening to their issues.

One couple had out grown their home 15 years ago. What held them back was they had stuff stacked floor to ceiling with a little path to walk from room to room. They were to embarrassed to have anyone come out to look at it and let them no what they could sale it for so they knew how much house they could buy. It took me 3 meetings before they were comfortable enough to tell me and 1 more to let me in the door.

Another guy spent 4 hours talking to me before he confided he had a foreclosure. It took me 15 minutes to find a loan officer to take his application and approve him.

I have also pushed some people off the fence by doing 2 year buy downs. But even that took forming a bond with them.

I have sold two new homes where the buy down definitely helped them get into the house. They were payment sensitive and without the buydown (in one case 2/1) in another fixed 4.5% neither would have written an offer. I am seeing more buyers come into the market since Jan. 1. I do agree that one size does not fit all and that resale sellers and builders alike need to find out what is motivating a buyer and tailor incentives to match their needs. Congrats on being featured!

Tamara, thanks for your comment. Without doing a professional market study (not a CMA, but one that I would do for a homebuilder where I spend time doing research and studying the market, the competition, inventory levels, employment rates, job growth, demographics, housing data such as the rental market, etc.) I can't say whether or not you need to lower your price.  There is a point where you don't make enough on a sale to cover your soft and hard costs.  Sometimes you have to take a few losses, if you can sustain them, in order to survive.  Also, remember the pyramid from your early days in real estate? The lower the price, the more buyers swimming there?

Several years ago, I was representing a large regional builder in what was predominately second home markets. Weekly I was monitoring inventory levels in the MLS for several FL counties. I was also watching vacant lot inventories in the MLS. By doing so, we were able to watch as inventory levels rose and sales declined (ever so gradually at first). We adjusted our deposit requirements early in the downturn and let the prospects go to our competitors and purchase a home with $500 or a $1000 down from them instead of us.  When things got bad, and they did, with for sale and foreclosure signs up on every other lot and home in our market with builder's having 30+ pages of line item inventory to sell, we were in fairly good shape.  We picked up some inventory from people who walked on big deposits, but our big deposits allowed us to price the homes below the rest in the market without our taking a black eye.  We ran promos early in the game to dump those houses and get them off of our books.

I still watch inventory levels in the MLS. yes, it is a lot of work, but, that's marketing. Did you notice in your market in October, November and December '08 that the inventory levels in your MLS dropped?  Have you thought about why? Have you given any thought as to how you could use that info to your advantage?  That's what a marketing person does. They always want to know why. it's what we live for: WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY. When we have the answer to the why we can start drafting a series of tactics and strategies.

A few months into the downturn, we were looking for "new-builds", i.e., contracts for homes to be built. There were hundreds of builder inventory homes in the MLS, plus hundreds of investor owned brand new homes in the MLS. How could we hope to sell a new-build when so many standing inventory homes were on the market and readily available. (I am referring to homes and advertising that had the words FIRE SALE written all over them.) 

We tried a different strategy. We offered to CUSTOMIZE the production floor plan and make changes for someone willing to build. Which home would you rather have? 1 of only a few, or 1 of 1,001?  Our pricing didn't change, but our tactics did. We had to suck it up and adjust our acceptable margins in order to maintain a foothold in the market and pull permits, and we had been producing mass quantities of production homes for so long we weren't equipped to offer custom options, but we got people in and up to speed in a hurry.  We added a few new floor plans to create new value and give our agents a reason to call people back out.  

This is the kind of stuff I am talking about here.  Every day you have to look at your database of prospects and ask: Why are they not buying and what, within reason, will it take? What can you do to get the buyer off the fence and onto paper?

Is it fear that the home they buy today will decrease in value before it's even built? How would you, as a marketing person, solve that? Get in your buyer's head. (I rolled out a PRICE REDUCTION GUARANTEE early in the game, long before anyone else even thought of it. Talk about a hard sell to the builder! He thought I had lost my mind. He couldn't wrap his brain around how it worked.) I am using that PRG with another builder today in a community that not only are we doing the marketing for but also the sales. Plus a few other things that allows the buyer to tailor the purchase to their individual needs. And no, we are not cutting our prices. In fact, our appraisals are coming in - some above the selling price - and our zip code had the only increase in price last quarter (due to us selling our homes!).  We generated a blip on the market report! 

Just look at things from an alternate point of view. Get in the head of your buyers. That's what great marketers do. You only need to get a few great ideas and close a few homes. We aren't going to do high volume just yet. You just need to put some in the win column. That's all. JUST GET ON THE SCOREBOARD!

Good luck! HAPPY MARKETING!

Dan, thanks we are selling houses. It's not easy. I have to trot out programs for our new home properties to meet each potential buyer's specific needs, from giving them a dollar allowance and helping them spend that at builder cost to get their current home market ready (think carpet, landscaping, paint, bad doors, etc) to slashing the listing side of the fee on their current home to give them the incentive to make the move into a new home. 

Last week I called a mortgage pro I trust to tell me what was in their pipeline, and where did it come from.  It was all foreclosure money.  As someone else in the comments, Greg Cook, stated above, foreclosures are selling.  Why? It's likely that foreclosures are selling because buyer's perceive those homes to be the best deal.  Maybe they are. But then again . . . Just because the tag says SALE doesn't mean it is a good buy. I am certain that there are equally as good bargains on the general MLS and in builder homes, but as marketers it is our job to get that info out to the buyers. 

Gabe: EXACTLY! And we have to help them with the exit strategy on their current home. I have older buyers wanting to buy our homes, but the thought of moving is daunting. Here's my offer: I send someone over from my team to help them organize what they want to keep, what they want to sell, and toss out what needs to go to the dumpster. We then arrange the packing, the moving, and then get them set back up in their new home - right down to the sheets on the bed. Give them a dollar allowance to pack and move instead of option dollars. Same amount of money -- but the buyer is using it where they need and want it the most. What do I care how they spend the incentive dollars. I just want to be able to do a take down and start building.

Denise Gray mentioned she had a problem with someone who was a pack rat (paraphrasing). Not sure how she overcame it, but she finally got her foot in the door to evaluate the situation.  

Think it is Zig Ziglar that always says that if you help people get what they want, you get what you want. 

The best part of my job is problem solving. I love that stuff! When I can help someone resolve their problem and help them with their situation, it's like winning. The problem didn't beat me.  That's why I love marketing. The challenges are always changing. 

Spot on, Jenny. You summed it up nicely.

TO EVERYONE RESPONDING TO THIS POST:

The old rent versus buy close doesn't work today in most markets.  In several of the markets I work in, there are plenty of homes on the rental market that are larger and cheaper per month than the homes we Realtors are selling. The owners (banks, investors) just want a warm body in there to help offset their monthly hemorrhage of cash. Even the apartment communities are taking a hit. Families can rent a home for the same, or even less, than an apartment in many areas.

Notice how apartment rents have fallen? Another marketing beacon that I keep an eye on -- and when you drive past apartment communities you see BIG incentives displayed Burma Shave style in front of the complex.  Also take into consideration that homeowners trying to rent out a home that they are hemorrhaging cash out on may not do the full back ground check that professionally managed rentals will. 

We have to approach those first time buyers with something more than the buy versus rent close, and the answer is not quoting an artificially low interest rate in the ad.

Deborah, what do you think about giving them the payment? I love your out of the box ideas for getting people off the fence. That could work for resales also. I'm finding that when I talk with people, it's their payment that they are concerned about more than the cost of the home (assuming of course that they can qualify for the price of the home). 

I love a woman who is straight to the point and on par with her ideas :)

Greg, thanks for the comments.  I can believe that your builder-client is still running the same shtick that they were three years ago.  Good marketing is rolling out a good plan and refining it while in use. If you sit around and wait for a great plan, you fail to make something happen. Many well-intentioned people sit around waiting for an excellent plan so nothing gets done. 

Good markets hide the chinks in the armor of your team.  The bottom line, Greg, is that many people in the industry shouldn't have had those decision making jobs to start with. They weren't truly qualified for their positions. Sometimes age and experience trump youth and a brand new sheepskin. The best part? Those of us with hands on experience of fifteen years or more in this industry have seen our value rise exponentially with the number of years and the various types of residential sales and marketing programs we designed and implemented.

When the market was sizzling hot, the builders and developers thought they didn't need us. They were making 'gut' decisions and then telling sales and marketing how it was going to be. This mess has only served to again prove that before buying the land, do the due diligence and come up with the worst case and best case proforma scenario. And always have plan B.

Deborah, this is a really great thread. The builders also thought they didn't need realtors in many cases when the market was hot.

I think you had some valid points but honestly there was a lont said just to be said. the reason the big builders no longer have quality Marketing professionals doing thier work is because they had to lay them all off because they couldnt afford them anymore. And why can't they afford good marketing? Because they gave thier homes away with outlandish incentive programs. The Big builders now are diying off because they can't afford to be in busness anymore. so is the key to discount the price of the home? Well this is a tricky siuatiaon. yes in some markets the prices of homes were outlandish and crazy so they had to crash down but what about the rest of us? I live in Colorado Springs which is noted at being one of the first cities expected to recover from this mess because the builders here did not go over bord with the price increases. However in a Town like Colorado Springs there is a lot of problems with appraisals because they are using appraisals from homes that were deeply discounted. The way to stop this is to talk to people about using thier incentive money to buy down the interest rate. focus on the payment and a lot of people win. The neighborhood wins because the value of the surrounding homes stays even, the homeowner wins because he retains the value. you see if you buy a 300k home for 200k its only worth 200k accourding to appraisers since it brought the value of the neighborhood down. This is a probelm we have seen. The builder I work for does believe that each home owner is different which is why we give them "any way you want it" incentives which they can apply to the price, interest rates, closing cost, design center or landscaping. It has been successful for us even if it is a simple idea. to be honest I can't be mad at you because you are right the Big builders do have some really lame ideas for getting people off the fence but what people need to understand is sales comes from relationships. people buy from those people they like or with those people they trust. If they trust you and like you then you are more likely able to explain to them the reasons why its a good idea to buy right now, whether that be value, equity, security, need, or payment... everyone is different. on that note I would like to state that (although I no longer sale homes for a living) when I sold homes back in the day I closed MANY homes based off of the 2/1 buy-down and even though you claim this was not because of the buy-down but because of the comparison of buying vs. renting it is the buy-down that gets us to that payment. The 2/1 buy-down is HUGE for military families who tend to get raises often.  Anyway I work for a nice local builder now who actually cares about the customer so our message is a bit different.

John, you are right. Most people that are worried about losing their jobs don't feel very good about making a move, but there is no pat answer whether or not to move forward and buy a home.

On one hand, you have to live somewhere. Since everyone's situation is different, if you lost your job, would you move in with a relative or stay in your own home.

If you would stay in your own home, can you own home for the same or less than rent (Ahhh the BUY DOWN program!! It works HERE!) Owning a home is rent control. YOU are in control. Plus, there are those tax advantages . . . interest deductions, property tax deductions . . . 

So, do your use your current employment history to get the loan, or do you take your chances that you will stay in the same industry and have no employment breaks?  

The VAST majority of Realtors have the best interest of the client at heart, and the right questions will lead someone to the right decision, the best decision for them. 

Yes, some people have a fear of making a move. We can't solve all their concerns. All we can do is help them to make the best real estate decision given their current situation.

And if they elect not to purchase a home today, we keep in touch until they buy or die and earn the right to ask them for a referral.

Gee, Lyn. You almost sound bitter and twisted. Wow. Where did that come from? 

Last I heard, this is a forum to blog about all things real estate, not attack the other members of this network. 

As for HUTZPAH, well, I think that you may have shown that in your remarks to me, Lyn, and frankly, it was uncalled for and very unprofessional of you. I rarely, if ever, self-promote in this venue.  I illustrated a point, Lyn, and if you were an industry insider you would have recognized that. Clearly, others did.  

I am not a braggart, Lyn, and I seriously doubt if you could find ONE person who would say so.  I am comfortable in my own skin and am unconsciously competent at what I do.  Marketing has morphed from my second skin to my first.  I live it, breathe it, and I just love what I do.  At the top of my game I walked away, to the shock of many, from a six-figure a year job to start my own company so that I could have more time for my church, family and friends. I am at the point in my life where I have nothing to prove, and some things are just more important. My name is on the door, but big deal. I am having fun.

Like other TOP sales and marketing people in our industry, some who are in this network, I voluntarily take time away from my family, friends, church and business to travel all over at my personal expense when asked to speak to other like-minded people (i.e, people at the top of their game or who want to be) in order to help others (like members of this AR network) better understand residential marketing.  And since I am always invited back, I guess that my material has value and merit.

I choose not to blog here for points but out of interest in giving back and also in the hopes of gaining insight from others. I had two amazing mentors coming up in the industry, and I give them the credit they deserve for not being afraid to share their wealth of knowledge gained in the field. The stuff they knew, that I now know, and stuff I have learned since doesn't come from a text book.  It comes from working your butt off for many years, getting in early, staying late, and yes, sacrificing and asking your family to do the same.

Builders don't pay their executives at the top end of the pay scale unless they earn it and deserve it. I earned it. I deserved it, and I never, ever missed a bonus. Does that qualify me to say what I think when I see marketing done very, very badly? Actually, I just can't tolerate incompetence at that level.

You're right. Lyn. I don't like their decisions.  The faster they figure it out the faster we clean up our mess in this industry. And yes, it is our mess. We all had a part in it. When the CEO demanded 1200 homes a year, I gave it to him.  When he asked for 1500, well, he got that too. And on, and on, and on . . . The mortgage people were happy to provide the mortgages, and you, the real estate agent, happily helped them buy and sell, and buy and sell.

Lyn, if the sales and marketing people who thought up that dumb interest rate buydown HTML blast have run out of ideas, as you suggest, then they need to get out of the business or, better yet, seek competent advice from someone who has the experience from past markets and perhaps understands the buyer better.  Someone within the homebuilding industry should not fear bringing in an outsider to part the trees of the forest for a better look. "We" are not the enemy. I have seen the enemy and it is foreclosure, unemployment, desperation, suicide, divorce,  . . .

Sorry if you thought I had a "Good rant" and that you "don't believe (I) have any worth while (which by the way is one word) ideas".  

By the way, someone who read this post and your comment asked me if you were torqued off because I suggested that the builder cut the commission to 2.5% if need be in order to effect the sale.  Cutting commissions seems to be a sore spot with some agents. I've always been of the Zig philosophy that if we help others get what they want, we ultimately get what we want. If the builder is willing to reduce his profit and cut margins to effect the sale, then by golly, I am willing to do so as well. I would rather have a slice of the pie than no pie at all. And again, the sooner we dry up some of this inventory and start building homes again, the faster this economy will get rolling forward.

Thanks for your comments, Lyn. They have actually inspired me to the continue to strive to save the world from pathetically poor marketing.

Roland, thank you for your concise analysis of the situation. As always, you are spot on! 

Great points, Cecilia. Have you thought about trying to renegotiate your rent to a lower level? Just asking. Do you want to own that home. Think the owner will agree to give you an option to buy it in two years at today's price???  Sounds like a hedge purchase to me! Will he set aside a portion of your current rent as the down payment in the event you choose to exercise the option?

Good luck to you, and thanks for your excellent points and sharing your understanding of the market with us. I appreciated your precise analysis of the situation.

Let me know what happens on the rent/option thing. I love a happy ending.

Denise, thanks for sharing some of the ideas that are working for you. That's what this was all about. Things that are working. Yesterday's "bag of goodies" are clearly not. We have to tailor our strategies individually, buyer by buyer. 

Good luck to you in your sales efforts this year.

Sharon, I always look forward to your comments and insight into the market.  

I would venture to guess that many of your buyers are in the military, and for some, a buy down helps them get the home today even though they have to qualify at the higher rate. It gives them a chance to buy low (today's price), take advantage of low rates, and get their feet wet in home ownership.  They know that they will likely get COLAs and other pay increases as they improve their pay grade. Many of these people were pushed to the sidelines during the boom in our area, so it is nice to see the military (and 1st timers) get the home they want.

Sharon'Frank: Do you have my office bugged? We are working on the very same thing and am checking with some of our lenders to figure out the rules of the max rebate we can contribute. Our builder is all for it. Call me and let's discuss. 

Winter, thanks. Now where were you when I was responding to the unfavorable comment! LOL. Clearly someone who didn't know that I love ebing drawn into a debate.

Hey, good selling and happy marketing to you! 

No, we aren't bugging your office LOL it's just that great minds think alike! I have a contract that had a $5000 bonus from the developer, $1000 from the builder and 4% co-op. To get the deal done, however, I have given up most of that bonus except the 4% co-op. I had no idea this was being offered when we showed the house. I would never push anyone bo buy a house because of my bonuses, but that's an example of what one builder/developer is doing. The $5K went away after Dec. - because I have another buyer interested in the community. I'll give you a call Monday.

This was one of the most insightful posts that I have read here on AR.

Gee, Mike, thanks. So glad that you and a handful of others understood the message. Had really hoped to incite the crowd to riot. No such luck. I just have one question, Mike: when are the others going to figure it out? 

Deborah, I agree with the idea that people aren't buying because of the unknown future values but it's also will they have a job. I noticed that Hyundai has a campaign out there that says they will buy the car back from you if you lose your job in the 1st year. I'd be interested to see how it's working. One real estate company in our area offered something like that for a little while but I don't have statistics on how well it worked. In Virginia Beach or Norfolk Va area the lower (200K or below) price range is still doing really well. The 450K + range new or existing is Dead!! I don't know how the smaller builders are surviving right now. I wonder if there is some kind of insurance policy the builder could buy to guarantee a value for 1 year??