Filling the house with the smell of freshly baked bread or planting flowers all around are tricks that agents use in booming markets. These days, some brokers have been holding catered gourmet lunches to entice other agents to see their listings. They have even held drawings for gift certificates.
Others have turned to burying St. Joseph statues. Religious supply stores say they have been deluged by agents and owners buying statues by the dozen.
But with the glut of properties on the market this fall, agents are trying another new tactic to flag potential buyers.
It's the Open House flag.
One of 90 designs available at the Flag Shop in Alexandria, it is 3 by 5 feet and made of nylon. Like all the store's flags, it can be rented or purchased. (Rentals start at $10 a day; most flags sell for $75.) The store has flags for holidays, births and to celebrate seasons. But co-owner Maria Eldredge reports that real estate agents have made the Open House flag the number one rental request.
"A flag like that wouldn't make you buy or not buy a house," says Betty Loeb, a real estate agent with Long & Foster who admits to keeping a box of St. Joseph statues under her desk. "But it might call your attention to the house and maybe might make you come and see it."
If all else fails, homeowners might want to consider the shop's second most popular model, the Cocktail Party flag, which comes emblazoned with a large blue martini.
