Don't Waste Your Money: Creative ways to sell homes in bad economy

These are tough times for home sellers--unless you are in a red hot neighborhood, home sales are slow, and not expected to pick up their pace anytime soon.

One woman says its possible to can sell a home in a bad market, by being creative.

Maggie beckmeyer is an auctioneer.

"I believe everyone should try an auction first. I believe that.  This is not a foreclosure. It is not a short sale. It is not a last resort," she said.

The wall street journal, in a recent story on "desperate times, desperate measures," says auctions are one of the hottest ways to sell a property right now.

"If we can show the market we are willing to look at what people think its worth, i think a lot of times a seller can get more than they want," she said.

But if a crowd of bidders outside your garage leaves you queasy, you may want to consider some other creative selling techniques.

Realtor Jim Basquette was tired of waiting months for offers, so he recently tried a more discreet form of auction. He set up a "round robin," similar to a silent auction.

His friends thought he was crazy.

"Well about half of them thought i was nuts, the other half thought i was a marketing genius," Basquette said.

But he says after an open house, the bids started coming in, and the house sold in days!

"I think typically if you take a house and are just marking it down in prices, there’s no urgency for anybody, they wait and maybe it’s going to be dropped in price a little more.  But this way there was a lot of urgency," he said.

Basquette says its all about creating urgency.,so that buyers feel they'll miss out. The Wall Street Journal says the other important thing is to price your home competitively, often below similar homes.

That’s what homeowner Jack Sandman did this past summer.

"It was a significant drop. We dropped from $700,000 to $550,000," Sandman said.

Finally, the wall street journal suggests throwing a house sale party:  a wine tasting, taco party, whatever you can think of. These days, its all about being creative.

When interviewing a realtor, don't go by his or her record from five years ago.

Ask how they are doing now, in this slow market. If they are creative, and makes sales, sign up... so you don't waste your money.