Sell This House: Put out All the Stops for the Open House

Oct. 2, 2006 — -- In the final installment of the "Sell Your House in a Week Challenge," "Good Morning America" contributor Barbara Corcoran recapped the last few frenzied days.

She and her team gave Cliff and Ginnie Freunds' Toms River, N.J., house a face-lift on the cheap.

By removing some of the furniture in the living room and scrubbing it down thoroughly, Corcoran revealed how big and spacious the house's main room was.

The den got a makeover, too.

After six days of preparation, the big one-day sale finally arrived.

The team raced against the clock to put final touches in place. They did anything and everything to draw a crowd, even hiring a hot-dog vendor and a deejay.

Buyers didn't bite at first, and Corcoran got a little nervous. Eventually, they poured through the doors -- more than 80 people saw the house by the end of the day.

So Did It Sell?

At day's end, the "For Sale" sign still stood.

Despite three very interested parties, the house did not sell.

Corcoran says the experience taught her lessons that all sellers should know.

"What happened here [Sunday] is exactly what's going on throughout America," she told ABC's Robin Roberts. "There are buyers out there, but they're sitting on the fence and they're afraid to commit. … You have to give buyers something they just can't resist."

Corcoran came away from the challenge with three tips for sellers:

"Staging" the house is a must. Scrub it down, make it over, anything to up the ante on its appearance. Corcoran said people oohed and ahhed at the Freunds'. She thinks if they had left the house the way it was, buyers would have walked in and walked back out.

Price is king. Sellers have to attract buyers with a great incentive. Give buyers the one last push they need to commit by offering a discount like a year of free mortgage.

There's no Hollywood ending. The buyers market is in effect. Buyers know they can take the time to mull things over, whereas they would have had to act more quickly in the past.

What's Next for the Freunds

As for the Freunds, Corcoran says they have a few options for the future.

They could do nothing and simply return their house to the price it was before the one-day sale, or they could reduce the price substantially and see whether more potential buyers bite.

As an alternative, the Freunds could rent their home for a year or two and wait out the buyers market.

With a little pushing and a lot of luck, one of the three buyers interested in the home could turn this into a sale.

Regardless, Corcoran says, the Freunds have a "cream puff" of a house, and lots of options for getting it off their hands.