Free Corvette With Purchase!

I used ‘U-Haul' money to purchase a really great house ‘Subject To'. It was 4bd, 3ba, 3 car garage, 2 fireplaces, tile roof, 1/3 acre lot house and only one year new. I guess the buzzword is it was a ‘Pretty House'. However as with any house I only give the seller a small sum for their equity, then it is ‘Gorgeous' to me forget about ‘Pretty'.

The time period was December a few years ago. Those that remember it was very slow for home sales. It was the 15th of the month close to Christmas and I had only bought and sold 4 or 5 properties. The home was advertised for $15K down in the local paper. No calls were coming in; the Grinch was staring me right in the face and laughing. It looked like Santa wasn't coming this year. I called a friend of mine in the used car business and asked him if he had any “sexy” used cars for a good price. He said he had an '84' Corvette in super condition. This was a bad year for Corvettes so it kept the price down, but fit right in to my plans. It was a decent car but not in super condition. You know how those used car salesman are even if they are friends. I purchased the ‘vette' for $3,400.00.

My New Ad Read:

$20K down – No Qualifying
4bd, 3ba, 2800sq.ft., 3 car gar.
1 year new, close to shopping,etc.
FREE CORVETTE W/Purchase
Call owner 555-1212

You noticed I added $5K to the down payment to cover the cost of the car plus a little extra for Christmas shopping. When the ad broke in the newspaper the phone did not stop ringing, one call after the other. I sold the home the same day the ad came out and probably could have sold a dozen more, if I had them.

Every house we buy has a personality of its own, much like you and I. This home looked like it was built for a Corvette owner. If the buyer did not own one he would when he bought the home. There are basic amenities plus copy I place in my ads. However, I use marketing techniques using the personality of the house to match the personality of my potential buyer.

You can get top dollar for the home you have advertised if you use the proper ad copy. Be creative in your marketing efforts. I am not saying to go out and buy a car for every home you sell. But, I am a firm believer that the home sells itself. Just envision who would buy the home, then be creative in your ad so that it fits the person or family reading the ad.