Buy a Townhouse, Get Tuition for Your Kid—Builders Offer Incentives to Sell South Florida Real Estate

By Mary Damiano

School tuition, leased cars, home upgrades—builders are throwing in lots of extras in order to get buyers to pony up for South Florida real estate.

Those who buy a townhouse in Orchid Grove, a community of Pompano Beach homes, can get four years of their child or grandchild’s tuition by Coscan Homes, the community’s builder. The program ends in spring of 2007.

Those without children can choose from other incentives, such as 4 percent off the purchase price, 4 percent of upgrades for the home or 4 percent cash at closing.

Sellers have been offering incentives such as cruises, timeshares and big-ticket televisions for some time to help sell their homes. Analysts say that while buyers would rather just get a better price on South Florida homes, incentives don’t hurt. In the case of the tuition program offered by Coscan Homes, however, no one to date has taken advantage of the offer.