What lengths do you go to when buying or selling a house? Everything from offering a free night's stay to a year's supply of goat's cheese if you live in Norfolk!
When it comes to buying and selling houses, it seems people are prepared to go to all kinds of lengths to get what they want - including adding a sports car to the sale to weekends away and even landscaping a garden free of charge for two years.
Unusual additions to the sale of a property can include all sorts of weird and wonderful items; when one vendor in Norfolk was selling his cottage, he threw in a year's worth of goat's cheese as an incentive to purchase. See the story here Sam Steggles, who runs Fielding Cottage, a business selling goat's cheese of worldwide acclaim, added in the cheese for fun when selling his home in Attleborough back in 2012.
Also in Norfolk, houses have been known to include the vendor's flashy sports car and one seller of a country property offered a night's stay there with meals included, free, as a 'try before buying' incentive. Georgina Lankester, who works in PR, offered a night with supper included when selling her home near Great Massingham.
The unusual sales tactics came to light after NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Propertymark, the estate agency body, asked its members to reveal the extravagant things they have seen buyers and sellers do over the years to secure their dream home.
Jan Hytch, operations partner at Arnolds Keys, recounted one incident. 'Years ago, I remember an old boy coming into the office (literally with bailer twine tied around his trouser legs) to buy a terrace in Wymondham.
'We then asked if he had a house to sell, and he said no he didn't, because he was moving out of a tied farm cottage the following week, so would like to buy this house now, because he needed to move his bed, wardrobe and armchair out by next week. He said he was happy to pay the asking price, and then produced a battered carrier bag...in the bag were 42 rolls of grubby bank notes, carefully tied in bailer twine, each one containing £500.
It was his life savings, which had he had kept under his mattress.
'We quickly ushered him to the solicitor next door, who put the money in their safe. Good as his word, he exchanged contracts two weeks later, and completed the week after that.'
Nick Taylor, from Hadley Taylor, said: 'One buyer purchased the ride on mower at a property with a big lawn to sweeten the deal and one buyer offered to pay the legal fees, removal fees and stamp duty for the seller in order to encourage her to move on.
'Of course sometimes buyers offer things they have no intention of following through on. One buyer told me he was so keen on a property that he would arrive at the viewing with the 10 per cent deposit in cash. Needless to say he didn't have the money when he arrived and he didn't buy the house.'
Read more in Friday' EDP Homes supplement.
Did you go to any unusual lengths to buy or sell your home? Are you selling now and throwing in any unusual added extras? Email caroline.culot@archant.co.uk
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