Buy My House - With Me In It

With inventories up, prices down, and bad real estate news all around, have you tried incentives to attract buyers? Some sellers have offered new cars, seller payment of closing costs, furniture included, and other lures to entice buyers. However, Deven Trabosh, a South Florida single mom, is offering her home furnished with...herself.

It seems that she's been trying to meet a life partner for a while, and also trying to sell her home in a really tough market. As a "licensed real estate agent who hasn't practiced in years," she understands the difficulty of selling her home in the current market. No comment on the ease or difficulty of finding a mate. It just seemed like a novel idea to offer the home and herself to just the right buyer.

There's always someone who will trash a new and innovative idea, and this is no exception. A post at TheBrinkTank Blog takes a critical and less-than flattering stance on the marketing tactic. Along with the mention of offering her other assets with the home, the post says "Over time, these assets can be expected to depreciate significantly, require high-maintenance and all without any hope for resale." This story certainly seems to apply to the "alternative investment" subject matter of the site.