Think I should try something like this in cottage country
Beer being offered as incentive for Calgary home purchase
$1,000 worth on day of possession
CALGARY — Two MLS homes for sale in Calgary are offering a unique incentive for prospective buyers.
Beer.
The sellers of homes in Hidden Valley and Coventry Hills, both listed by realtor Robyn Moser of MaxWell South Star Realty, are offering to leave $1,000 in beer behind to the buyers.
“The homeowners are offering any purchaser who is willing to purchase a home $1,000 in beer on possession day as part of the offering price of a home,” said Moser, who works with a team of realtors called Robyn Moser & Associates.
“It’s most likely going to have to be (left) either in the garage or depending on the temperature in the house.”
Moser came up with the idea after seeing a story in Chicago where a seller was offering beer with the purchase of the home and how showings on the property increased by 300 per cent.
“And with those two listings in particular I knew that the clients were very receptive to trying out new ideas,” she said. “And I felt I would pass along the information of what they tried down in Chicago and how successful it was down there.
“Plus at the same time, like we all discussed, there’s nothing more Canadian than beer.”
The two-storey, 1,800-square-foot home in Hidden Valley is listed at $424,900. “Buy this home and on possession day the seller will leave you $1,000 in beer,” says the listing to that property.
The Coventry Hills home is two storeys and 1335 square feet and listed at $349,900. “Homeowners are offering $1,000 in beer to buyer of this home,” says the listing.
“It’s a homeowner incentive, not a realtor incentive because we can’t put those out there,” said Moser, adding that the kind of beer left behind will be negotiated as part of the purchase agreement.
David Finch, assistant professor of marketing at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University, called the idea “intriguing.”
“At the end of the day, incentive is very audience specific,” he said. “The incentives for 10-year-old kids are very different from seniors.”
Finch said he doesn’t think someone would purchase a home simply because of the $1,000 beer incentive.
“But the first step in any type of consumer transaction is awareness,” he said. “You don’t shop somewhere or consume anything you’ve never heard of. This is less of an incentive but more of a promotion where they’re building awareness and buzz around the property for sale not pretending in fact that somebody’s going to sign on the dotted line to get $1,000 in beer.”
He said he’s heard of cars being used as incentives to buying a property.
“We’re going to try it out with the first two homes and see how it works,” said Moser. “So far actually the response after one day has been pretty positive.
“I’m sure that if it works really well we’ll probably look at doing it with some other listings or find other things that suit the clients’ house or neighbourhood
Grace Dekker "Broker" Keller Williams Lifestyle Realty 