Buy a house, get a BMW

Commercial real estate agent David Barrueta wants someone to buy his Signal Mountain house — and he’s offering his 1994 325c BMW to seal the deal.

“The car puts a smile on your face,” Mr. Barrueta said. “It adds a little humor to the process.”

The offer is a way to get rid of an extra car — the family has three — while also drawing attention to his house, he said.

The real estate market isn’t as bad as some people have portrayed it, Mr. Barrueta said, but acknowledged it could be better.

Mr. Barrueta, owner of David Barrueta Associates, said he only brokers commercial real estate, not residential properties.

Mr. Barrueta is asking $359,900 for his 3,200-square-foot house, which was built in 1970, he said. He and his family have owned the home for about two and a half years.

Mr. Barrueta’s house on Marr Drive has only been on the market since December, and he added the convertible as an incentive two weeks ago, he said. Before the BMW was featured, Mr. Barrueta said someone submitted an offer on his house, but it was far too low.

“The perception of buyers is that it’s a bargain market,” he said. “Perception is reality. I’m just looking forward to selling a top-quality house to someone with my car as part of the deal.”

If the Barruetas’ home were to sell soon, the family would be doing as well as the average seller in Signal Mountain, said Liz Wilkerson, a real estate agent with Crye-Leike Realtors’ Signal Mountain office. The average house on the mountain up for sale between September 2007 and now was on the market for 92 days, she said. The time on market has increased from 80 days in the same period a year ago.

The car has about 135,000 miles on it, Mr. Barrueta said, and he mostly drives his truck anyway. He said he will negotiate with a buyer if the client doesn’t want the car, but he wants a good price for the house. The family is moving up the road in about a month to a 3,900-square-foot house they’re having renovated. In the meantime, they’re living in the house that’s up for sale.

Demand for Signal Mountain homes should be increasing, Ms. Wilkerson said, with the construction of the high school. Regardless of the high school, or incentives, anyone wanting to sell their house for maximum value should have it in pristine condition, she said.

“If not, be flexible to lowering the price,” Ms. Wilkerson said.