Buy my house and I'll give you £50,000

A HOUSE-SELLER has become so desperate to clinch a deal he is offering £50,000 cash back to the buyer of his home.

The four-bedroom house in Queensferry Road has been on the market for several months at a fixed price of £599,000 but interest has dried up.

Malcolm Young, 57, wants to move his wife Yvonne, 45, and children Callum, ten, and Sarah, eight, to Northern Ireland, where he has business interests.

However, their move has been held up by the credit crunch draining the confidence of buyers and lenders. Rather than lower the asking price from its market valuation, they have decided to offer a cash incentive which would be paid on completion of the deal.

Cash back offers are often used by developers of new properties, but experts believe in the current climate owners of second-hand homes may have to use them too.

Mr Young, a business psychologist like his wife, said: "We love the house and have lived there for 16 years. It's a lovely old property with a big garden and has been great for the kids.

"We had a bit of interest when it first went on the market and we expected things to pick up over the last few months, but, if anything, it has dried up completely."

He added: "We believe the house has been valued correctly and I expect anyone who wanted to buy it could get a mortgage against the full value.

"So, rather than reduce the asking price, we decided to offer cash back, which helps with stamp duty, legal costs, and moving."

The family's difficulty in selling their house is a clear sign of problems in the upper end of the Edinburgh property market, which, had previously been seen as immune to the UK slump.

The credit crunch has reduced the average value of homes in Scotland to just over £150,000 – down from more than £160,000 when the market peaked last year.

Many sellers in Edinburgh have preferred to sit it out and wait for the market to improve, rather than make concessions.

But experts believe those determined to sell now will have to be inventive to clinch a deal.

David Marshall of the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, said: "Maybe we are starting to see more incentives being offered.

"It is more unusual with second-hand properties, but it is a good way of making your home stand out."