REALTORS TRY OUT A RANGE OF PRICES.(BUSINESS)

Byline: JAMES DENN Business writer ALBANY -- Realtors are trying new ways to lure people into buying houses as they face the prospect of further dips in prices and weaker than expected sales. -

In addition to marketing houses over the Internet, a sales step that began in earnest last year, a new sales technique has been introduced to get buyers to take a look at houses for sale.

Prudential Blake Atlantic Realtors of Albany has begun a marketing technique used in other parts of the country called ``value range marketing.'' Rather than listing a house at a single price, Prudential lays out a price range. Instead of asking $110,000, for example, the seller indicates a willingness to listen to offers between $88,000 and $110,000.

Setting a so-called value range gets more people to look at the property, said Prudential Blake co-owner Jeffrey Christiana. More lookers means more offers, he says.

Once a …