The Home Crowd

This is quite possibly, my favorite real estate listing…ever.  For now that is.  After drawing nearly a half million views on youtube, odds are pretty good these agents got their message across to at least several interested parties.  In the past, traditional advertising has been sufficient to draw buyer interest.  But today, in our globalized, connected reality, a viral video such as this spreads itself as traditional advertisements cannot.  That is, this video, once completed would provide it’s own reach as opposed to more billboards = more money.

But how well produced is this Bruckheimer-esque production anyhow?  The flaws are so subtle, that you likely won’t even notice them.  In the shot above, it’s clear that this property is without air conditioning.  Look at that poor lass, even with the window open, she’s obviously sweating bullets in what would be a sweltering summer this time of year down under.  Those partially open louvered windows?  They do nothing!

And this shot of what might seem to be the front of the house.  I’m not sure if this would actually be front of the house, since I’d find it more preferable to approach from the dockside, roaring up on my mini-yacht.  I’ve seen the vid, and the SWAT team agrees.  But without the Ferrari California, this is a very ‘blah’ perspective.  Sure it’s a modern contemporary home, but what’s going on with the crown moulding sprouting out of the roof?  And why’s the sports car left outside anyhow?  This can only be explained I imagine, by the current owner being hoarders with their garage full of newspapers and old calendars.

Honestly, as a red-blooded male, my interest was raised with one sweaty hottie tied up to a chair…. but wait!  There’s more!  Look at these two hot blondes, and look at them well, and only look at them, because if not, you might just notice the neighbors homes in the background.  The neighbors, with their custom homes desired only the finest shoreline island living with all the presentation of an industrial park warehouse.  Had it been me, I’d have hired an entire NFL cheerleader squad and blocked the neighbors out entirely.  With no season next year, they’d have been thrilled with the work I bet.

Here’s the video, in case you haven’t seen it.  I really hope this works out successfully for these guys, and we see some sequels.

From the Detroit News:

This quaint little Detroilet area home (below), last sold in 2006 for 65K, the home foreclosed last summer, and the home was re-listed for $1,100.  No takers…  In the meantime, the house was stripped down by looters and squatters.  So the home was listed for $1.  No one’s seen a deal like that since you last cheaply bought out Baltic Ave. from your dim-witted friends at Monopoly.

Talk about a motivated seller.  Obviously not motivated by greed.  Apparently it’s already cost the bank that owned the home 10K, and constant looters and squatters weren’t helping the situation.

The siding was the first to go. Then they took the fence. Then they broke in and took everything else.”

The company hired to manage the home and sell it, the Bearing Group, boarded up the home only to find the boards stolen and used to board up another abandoned home nearby.

Scrappers tore out the copper plumbing, the furnace and the light fixtures, taking everything of value, including the kitchen sink.

The kitchen sink thing sounds like a bad pun, but the fence?!?  Is there a big market for used fencing?  I know there is for copper as I’ve heard many a story about copper wiring and piping being ripped off from abandoned homes, job sites, and even more brazenly, freeway medians.  And stealing the plywood that had been boarding up the home to board up yet another home…. really?  I mean, what does plywood cost anyhow, a couple of bucks a sheet?  Well of course that’s too much because you could buy a few houses for that kind of green.

But most disconcerting of all, is stripping the siding of the side of an abandoned house.  Really though, what could that be good for? ….

Oh, of course…. to line your shower, now who’s laughing?  Only shower on the block with a 30 year weatherbeater warrantee, ….bitch to clean soap scum off though.

More from this article here.

I see from time to time these quirky stories of world’s smallest house. This one, in Toronto, however, I see pop up the most.

Estimated at around 300 square feet and roughly 6 feet wide at the interior, the home is on the market for somewhere between 170-180K. Seems like alot for something that looks as if it started off as a shed for the brick home on the right there.

On the plus side, now you’ve got a reason not to go all out with a giant plasma tv, as it may not fit on the wall. Behind that wall is the bathroom, kitchen, and at the rear is the bedroom. The bedroom sports a murphy bed which couldn’t possibly fit any tighter.

Seems tight… Don’t suppose a young married couple in a starter home could get along with sleeping in bunk beds? Perhaps these from a previous post?

Anyhow, also found on youtube was this news clip of the home when it was previously up for sale in 1993. The bathroom looks to be the trickiest part as taking a seat on the commode would be like trying to fit in your old high school desk with that sink positioned where it is.

More pics here at Joeydevilla.com

Similar pics here at TeamSugar.com, as well as a floor plan at the bottom of the article.