Here, take the car with the house: gimmicks in local real estate

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By MATT OLBERDING/Lincoln Journal Star

If the three-and-a-half car garage, heated floors and $4,500 built-in plasma TV aren’t enough to sell you on buying Mike James’ southeast Lincoln home, he’s willing to go further.

Pay his $235,500 asking price and he’ll throw in his 2001 Corvette, which he estimates is worth $24,000.

James and his wife decided they wanted a house of their own after getting married recently, so they bought one and put his three-bedroom, four-bath house up for sale.

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Mike James is offering his 2001 Corvette as an incentive to buy his house at 6124 Blackstone. (William Lauer/Lincoln Journal Star)

Mike James is offering his 2001 Corvette as an incentive to buy his house at 6124 Blackstone. (William Lauer/Lincoln Journal Star)

James said he thought of the idea of offering his Corvette to buyers after having no luck selling the house on his own or with a Realtor.

In the three months it was listed with a Realtor, James said he had no offers and only one or two showings a week.

Though he hasn’t had an offer on his house since he started offering the Corvette, he said traffic has picked up a lot.

“I’ve had a tremendous amount of people looking at it, so I think it has worked,” he said.

While James’ offer of a Corvette is probably the most creative and lucrative local incentive out there for potential homebuyers, it’s not the only one.

Faced with a record number of homes on the market and declining sales, some people are looking for a little edge to sell their homes.

Like Jerry Boyce, for example.

Boyce’s new two- and three-bedroom condos near 27th and Superior streets are among some of the most affordable in Lincoln, with prices starting under $100,000.

But sales have been slow, so Boyce, the owner of Boyce Construction, decided to give buyers a little incentive.

If he can get at least 10 of the units sold by Dec. 15, one of the new owners will walk away with a car.

It’s a 2004 Chevy Cavalier -- not exactly a Corvette, but not something to take lightly.

Boyce said that if the promotion is successful he’ll consider buying another car and offering it as an incentive to buyers.

“You’ve got to be creative in a downturn market and do what you can to get some sales,” he said.

Other incentives being offered by builders in the Lincoln area include rebates, delayed payments and big screen TVs.

Is it the start of a trend  that’s been prevalent in other parts of the country?

Gene Ward doesn’t think so.

Ward, who who manages Woods Bros. Realty’s Lincolnshire office and has more than 30 years of real estate experience in Lincoln, said those sorts of “outlandish” promotions and incentives are more prevalent in areas where the market is distressed, and that’s not the case in Lincoln.

“I don’t see (incentives) as being necessary in our marketplace, and I don’t think we’re going to see any more of it,” he said.

In Lincoln, Ward said, homes will “sell readily” if they are priced right and in good condition to show to prospective buyers.

That said, Ward thinks some perks, like offering appliances or paying closing costs on a mortgage, are a good idea.

He doesn’t see the value, though, in offering a car.

“He (James) would be much better served to reduce the price,” Ward said.

Part of James’ offer does include a $24,000 rebate for a buyer who isn’t interested in his Corvette.

But he thinks it’s the car that ultimately will get the house sold.

James said his wife “had a quote” about who might potentially buy the house.

She said it will be someone who will “want the Corvette and they’ll settle for the house.”

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.