Quoted Text

CAPITAL REGION
Perks offered to home buyers
Builders, agents throw in bonuses
BY TATIANA ZARNOWSKI Gazette Reporter

    Buy a house in this economy and you could walk away with a vacation, a free fireplace or a year’s worth of lawn care.
    A hefty federal tax credit isn’t the only reward home buyers may get this year.
    “It’s like going to the casino. You don’t know what you’re going to win,” said Saratoga Springs Realtor Scott Varley.
    To lure buyers back into the market, builders and real estate agents are cutting deals and throwing in freebies. Some of them are well-advertised. Other times, buyers have to ask.
    “Just because someone’s not offering incentives doesn’t mean they shouldn’t talk to them,” Varley said.
    Builders and Realtors are still recovering from the sluggish housing market.
    Home sales grew 3.2 percent in 2009 from the dismal low of 2008, according to the Greater Capital Association of Realtors. But the 8,480 pending sales in 2009 in the Capital Region were still nowhere near the 2006 high of 10,330 closings.
    New home builders, who have been especially hard-hit by the declining real estate market in the past two years, are especially aggressive in offering specials. ............>>>>....................>>>>.............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01102&AppName=1

you would have to offer a security system and personal security guard in Schenectady to sell a home........