Are you a Kategadi

Last night, I (thought) I had the greatest idea. I was watching an episode of Property Virgins on HGTV and..............Wait a minute. I should probably clarify why I was watching HGTV at 9:00 on a Monday evening.

I recently attended a Jeff Shore sales training workshop (twitter.com/jeffshore) in Charlotte and he recommended that we watch HGTV (especially House Hunters) to see how real prospective home buyers search for, (think about) and purchase property. Hint: everybody compromises.

Anway, I saw the most awesome way to market your home. Take the market value of your home, slash the price 25% (and reduce that number by $100), and advertise the lower price. Instruct all prospective buyers they have one week to present any and all offers. Seems catchy, doesn't it? For example, your home's market value is $380,000. You decide to list it for $284,900. Seems like it could be the deal of a lifetime, right?

Hopefully, the pool of prospective buyers know that the $284,900 asking price will likely be met and exceeded since it is significantly below market value. Consequently, those "bidding" on the home during the one-week silent auction period will get caught up in the frenzy (because people assume other prospective buyers are doing the same). Assuming the home you are marketing isn't average, you might dupe the marketplace into paying more for your home than if you had just listed it for $380,000.

You've created urgency.

Those of us in home sales know how hard it is to create urgency (in today's market). It's as hard as shooting a 59 on a par-72.

But are you willing to commit yourself (and your company, and your employees, and your reputation) to schemes; gimmicks (e.g., Cash for Clunkers, $8,000 tax credit); distrustful techniques? Are you a Kategadi (Greek slang for scam artist)?

Or are you the consummate professional?