Desperate U.S. sprawl developer gives away cars with houses
By Sarah Goodyear
26 Apr 2011
My head nearly exploded at the breakfast table on Saturday morning. I was reading a piece in The New York Times about an Illinois developer who has finally found a way to unload the new houses he has built some 50 miles from downtown Chicago, in a place he has seen fit to dub a “Village of Yesteryear.” When drastic price cuts weren’t enough to entice buyers, he decided to throw in $17,000 cash toward the purchase of a car with every house. (That money can only be spent at the local General Motors dealer, of course — because, let’s go U.S.A.!) So this is what it has come to. Developers are now giving away vehicles to entice people to live in distant suburbs with life-draining commutes just when gas is hitting $5 a gallon. And a few consumers are biting — one is quoted as saying, “My money was in the bank, collecting very little interest, so I thought I might as well take a little gamble.” Ah, yes, gambling on real estate. That’s the kind of anecdote that makes you feel confident about America’s economic future. …
Ah, now if only General Motors would give me a free house, it might actually get me to consider buying one of their crappy cars.