Trying to 'SPEED' up the sale
PRESCOTT VALLEY Rich and Jeanne Darrow are trying to speed up the sale of their home.
To entice a prospective buyer, the Darrows are throwing in a 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon to sell their roughly 1,450-square-foot home.
"We're kind of situated where we need to get all we can because we're moving back to California," Rich said. " It's a negotiating point. Some people will want a car and others won't. Of course, we'd sell either one separately."
Rich said they ran an advertisement to sell the home and hosted an open house in mid-June offering cookies and ice cream as an incentive.
Both efforts had mixed results, according to Rich, who said they've given away more than 100 flyers listing the two-bedroom home and received two phone calls.
"No one's been interested in the car and the home together," he said.
The couple moved to the community a couple of years ago and planned to retire here.
Children and grandchildren are pulling them back to the 'Golden State.'
"We're a little bit gypsy, I think or my wife is," he joked.
Rich said they aren't pressing to sell the home.
"We don't have another house we've put money down on so we're in a good position for that," he said.
Rich parks the car in the driveway with the front of the car facing the street, and a fluorescent pink sign on the car's windshield screams to passersby.
"People will stop to read it," he said. "It's an attention-getter."
A local real estate professional said tossing in a free car to help sell a home is new to her.
Jeri Ann Kooiman, owner of Kooiman Realty, said she has heard of homeowners throwing in a hot tub or swing set to sell a home.
She has nearly 20 years experience in the real estate market and suggests the couple use caution.
"I've never seen anybody throw in a car," she said. "I don't know that I would do that myself. I think they can pull it off; they just need to make sure that they put everything in writing."
Kooiman also offered to help the couple for free.
Jeanne got a kick out of her husband's idea. "I laughed and rolled my eyes," she laughed. "When he comes up with these ideas, I go, 'oh no.'"
Contact the reporter at jsoifer@prescottaz.com
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