The couple so desperate to sell their house they are offering to PAY someone to buy it

John and Trisha Hall are planning to emigrate to New Zealand so they can be closer to relatives, but under the terms of their visa they must make the switch by next May.

For the past year Mr Hall and his 60-year-old wife have been struggling to sell their four-bedroom detached cottage in the Nottinghamshire village of Kimberley.

At first, the house was on the market at £360,000 but as the credit crunch has taken hold and the housing market slowed, the number of viewings has fallen dramatically. Now the property is priced at £339,950.

John and Trisha Hal are so desperate to sell their house that they are offering £500 off their monthly mortgage payments as well as £2,000 cash back

But instead of cutting the price again, Mr Hall has decided to offer potential buyers cash incentives - a tactic more commonly used by developers trying to sell new builds.

These include paying £500 per month towards the buyer's mortgage until January 2010 and handing them a £2,000 lump sum payment on completing the deal to help with their removal and legal costs.

Mr Hall, 62, who used to a run a boarding kennels and dog rescue centre before working as a handyman, has also created a DVD tour of the property in a bid to encourage viewings.

He said: 'We have felt the market conditions bite. We had a lot of interest but the number of people wanting to come and view the house has dropped off in the last few months because of the credit crunch.

'We saw the estate agent and they said why don't you just reduce the price again but that is just the same as everybody else.

'I was talking with a friend of mine and he said he saw a deal like this. I realise this is what property developers do but I don't know of any individual sellers who have done this yet.

'We are not about to give the house away at a silly price. If it doesn't go then we will sit tight and we will go through the process of applying again to get a visa for New Zealand.

'All we need is one person who likes the house to come along and that's it.'

Mr Hall says the house has the feel of a cottage with all the modern facilities buyers would expect.

On the ground floor there is a lounge, dining room, office, kitchen, utility room, toilet and sun room.

Upstairs there are four bedrooms, one of which is en-suite. The property also has a garden, hot-tub and double garage.