As the deadline looms for home-buyer incentive programs, many pundits are wondering whether the real estate business will be able to maintain any sense of momentum or sales success once the consumer payoffs are gone. (See this story as one example, from a recent edition of the New York Times.)
Implications: I offer no political viewpoint about whether the various home-buyer incentive plans were a good idea or not. But the programs designed to help first-time buyers and certain upgrade buyers will soon be over. Granted, any program could enjoy an extension… but it can’t last forever.
What kind of market conditions—and creative marketing—will help real estate brokers, bankers, builders and developers pick-up where these programs leave off?
Can privately created incentives (and partnerships) replace those public funds?
I’m thinking a gift card from _______ home improvement store with the purchase of your new house (so you can make it feel like a home of your own). Or, perhaps the living room set of your choice from ______ furniture. Or, perhaps a two-night stay at ______ hotel, presented at the time of closing… so you don’t have to live in a messy house on move-in day. Or maybe your brainstorming will lead to _______ home electronics store… so you can advertise this as “the house that comes with a free home theatre.”
The government has been a helpful partner to the real estate business over the past several months. Perhaps one takeaway should be that partnerships are a smart idea… even if you have to create them on your own.
Mike Anderson
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