Seller Incentives and More Doodads

I posted a question on a couple of REI boards regarding seller incentives to illicit feedback. I didn't get back as much feedback as I had hoped, but the people who did respond said basically the following:

1. Offer both buyer's agent andbuyer's closing cost incentives.
2. It's best to offer the incentives immediately, if you are in a slow market and/or want to move it really quick.
3. Give the property time to market.

My property has now been listed for 18 days. I guess being new to this whole ordeal, I have been getting a little anxious the property hasn't gotten any offers yet. One person suggested waiting for the property to be on the market for at least 30 days before offering incentives and/or dropping the price. This is probably a good idea. Another person said they offer a $1,000 buyer's agent bonus immediately to generate higher volume. I guess this is something I can remember when selling future properties. As far as the dollar figures for incentives, most people suggested between $1,000 and $2,000 for buyer's agent bonus and $1,000 to $2,000 for buyer's closing costs. I think I'll give my current property another 11-12 days and then consider these incentives. I think the property is prices a little higher than FMV, so I may even drop the list price by $1,000-$2,000 to make it an even better deal.

On a side note, my wife and I went out over the weekend to look for a good vacuum and a good lawn mower. Both will be used for personal and business use (not sure how to write some of the costs off for busines yet, but I'll let my CPA worry about it). After some intense discussion, we settled on a Dyson DC-14 vacuum and a Craftsman 3-in-1 rear-propelled lawn mower. Both had a rather steep sticker price, but should last us an eternity. The one thing I've learned from life's experience is that you can always buy cheap, but you'll pay for it in the end. We have an all-ceramic tile house, but have several area rugs. My wife had just vacuumed the rugs a couple of days before we got the new vacuum. We tried it out on the same rug and were flabbergasted at all the stuff it picked up from what we thought was a clean rug. I also put the lawn mower together and was equally amazed at the ease of use. I just wish I had both before I vacuumed and mowed the lawn at the investment property. :-)