In a tight spot

Shannon and Jason Medisky are so desperate to sell their three-bedroom Renton condominium that they're offering this unusual incentive: They will hide $20 bills for the new owners to find after they move in.

It's just one of dozens of deals out there for prospective homebuyers in Southeast King County.

As home prices continue to slip and houses and condos are staying on the market an average of four months, sellers are offering plasma televisions, boats, water skis and kitchen appliances to entice homebuyers.

Sellers are dropping their asking prices by as much as $75,000 and still aren't seeing any offers.

"I'm just trying everything to get exposure," said Shannon Medisky. "I would do anything to sell it in the next couple months."

The couple could be waiting awhile.

Like the rest of King County, Southeast cities are facing a definite housing slump, characterized by flat home prices and a glut of homes on the market, a combination that translates into great deals for prospective buyers.

The median price of houses in Southeast King County was $362,000 in November, down about $4,000 from September but up slightly from November 2006, according to the most recent report released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NMLS).

Many buyers are also waiting to see if prices will fall even more.

"We're going to see the market rally somewhat in January," said Roni Strupat, an agent with Re/Max Team One in Kent. "We'll see better than what we've seen in this last quarter."

Sellers in distress

That's little consolation for Marshall Gilmore, whose three-bedroom Renton home has been on the market for five months.

In that time, he's dropped the asking price $16,000 to $338,900 and still has no buyer. Now he's decided that if the 1,500-square-foot house doesn't sell this month, he'll try to rent it out.

Many sellers are turning their properties into rentals or taking them off the market until the conditions improve.

"I had an offer a while back, and the guy was asking for so much, I just thought, 'This is crazy,' " Gilmore said. "Now, on second thought, I probably would have taken him up on his offer."

Southeast King County's housing market is faring about the same as the rest of King County, NMLS figures show.

On average, the number of homes listed in King County increased 43 percent in November compared with the same time last year and pending sales dropped 24 percent.

The median house price for all King County has fallen four months in a row, reaching $435,000 in November, the same as a year earlier.

In Southeast King County, sellers are competing with homeowners who are about to go into foreclosure and are willing to sell their houses quickly and cheaply before they enter the process, said Jason Moore, managing broker of Windermere Real Estate's Renton office.

Through October of this year, the number of houses in foreclosure in King County jumped 38 percent compared with 2006, according to Dean Street & Associates, a real-estate company specializing in foreclosures.

"That's a tough thing to compete against," Moore said.

The picky buyer

Also challenging is that buyers — well aware of the great deals available — are asking for the world.

When Jenna Soriano, 23, began shopping for her first home in Southeast King County, she knew exactly what she wanted: a condo with vaulted ceilings.

Her Windermere agent kept sending her listings of other options in her price range, but she wasn't interested in any of them. She knew what she wanted and figured she'd find it.

She bought her two-bedroom condo in Kent — with vaulted ceilings — for $247,708 after looking for about a month.

Justin Thomas is looking for a house in Kent but wants prices to drop $20,000 to $30,000 more. He says he won't buy until prices come down.

On the other hand, Thomas is selling two homes in Kent — one for $386,000; the second for $460,000 — and isn't inclined to reduce his asking prices much at this point. He is willing to wait awhile for buyers who will pay his prices.

Great deals available

This is not the time to be skimpy, not when sellers are chopping their listing prices and throwing in freebies.

Rhonda Witzler, a sales agent with Skyline Properties in Kent, is selling a three-bedroom home on Lake Tapps for $679,000, a price that's been reduced by about $20,000 the last three months it's been on the market.

The owners are so eager to sell that they're offering to throw in a boat and personal watercraft to nab buyers.

"This house would have sold in a heartbeat at $750,000 a few months ago," Witzler said. "Right now there are just incredible deals out there."

Among the more unusual buyer incentives in Southeast King County:

• A three-bedroom home in Covington is selling for $307,000 and the seller will pay the first two months of the buyer's mortgage.

• Owners of a three-bedroom townhouse in Renton, on the market for $299,800, are offering a 42-inch plasma-screen television to the buyer until Dec. 29.

• Sellers of a 3,000-square-foot four-bedroom home in Covington selling for $515,000 are offering a buyer $2,000 when the deal is done.

And then there are the Mediskys, the Renton couple offering to hide $20 bills throughout their condo.

They'll hide at least $100 and will increase that amount depending on home much the home sells for.

Will the gimmick help them offload the house? They have no way to be sure. At the very least, they hope it will generate more hits on their ad.

"If nothing else, people will chuckle," Shannon Medisky said.

Kirsten Grind is a Seattle-area freelance writer: kirstengrind@gmail.com