The Washington Post has this report on tactics for selling in a down market. "If for-sale signs have sprouted like weeds in your neighborhood and the grass is growing up around them, it's no time to panic, say real estate experts. It's time to go back to the basics."

"Some sellers also are dangling offers of vacations and cars. Others are turning to auctions, normally associated with foreclosures and fire sales. Some are just praying."

"'You have to look at what the contract prices have been recently, not at what the high-water mark was in 2005,' said Linda Braley, an appraiser in McLean. 'Those prices are gone.'"

"Even those who had their houses appraised for refinancing in the past year should look again before listing, Braley said. 'In a market where not much is changing, you might have a shelf life of about six months on an appraisal. But in the current situation, it's very difficult to keep up with prices.'"

"If a property sits two weeks with no interest, not even an agent dropping by, 'it's time to lower the price,' said Margaret Ireland, chairman of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. The amount of the reduction depends on the price range. 'If it's in the $700,000-to-$800,000 range, you need a good $25,000 reduction,' Ireland said. 'For a house in the $1 million to $1.3 million range, it might take $100,000.'"

"Even a low price isn't necessarily going to do the trick, said Candy Clanton, an agent in Fairfax. She says buyers are bargain-hunting. 'My clients have reduced their prices 50, 60 and 70 thousand in some cases, but they're just not seeing any traffic right now,' she said."

"If cutting the price doesn't help, perhaps offering to give some of that money back to the buyer will work. Financial incentives come in many forms. There's help with closing costs. Seller contributions can also be used to 'buy down' or reduce lenders' interest rates, or to pay bonuses to agents."

"Some sellers are going for the exotic in hopes of standing out. Vici Boguess in Old Town Alexandria has one set of sellers trying to tempt buyers with a week's vacation on Kiawah Island near Charleston, S.C. The townhouse near the King Street Metro station has been on the market since January, dropping in price from $575,000 to $542,000."

"The vacation 'probably won't sell the house, but the owners thought that it might make an agent take an interest in it, enough to bring a client to see it,' Boguess said."

"Owners of a million-dollar house in Alexandria offered a free Mini Cooper as a bonus, 'but it didn't work, and they sold the car when they had to move,' said Dave Hawkins, broker in Alexandria. The house is still on the market, but the owners may rent it if it doesn't sell soon."

"Though many agents say auctions are stigmatized by their association with foreclosures..Homeland Auctions President Gloria Gardner said she 'can't keep up with all the calls these days.' 'We're doing for real estate exactly what a Fourth of July sale does for retail.'"