It seems that the housing crisis has made some interesting news lately.
While auctioning off homes is nothing new, especially with the rash of foreclosures that have been happening, and auctioning off homes on eBay is still not surprising, getting an entire house for only $1.75 is something noteworthy.
The Saginaw News of Saginaw, Michigan is reporting that a Chicago woman won an eBay auction for a home. There were eight bids in total. Of course, the home will actually cost the woman a bit more than the $.75. She has to pay an additional amount of approximately $850 for back taxes and yard cleanup.
I’m guessing that the condition of the home is probably something that requires some attention, so additional money may need to be forthcoming from the owner, who says that she is planning on selling the home and has no plans to move to Saginaw. At least, there is no mortgage payment, so presumably the owner can take her time if she wants to do a flip. At the very least, the copper wiring in the home (assuming it hasn’t been looted) has got to be worth more than the purchase price.
Would you ever consider buying a bargain house online? The home was sold by a company called Southern Investments LLC. I wonder if other investment companies and banks will be auctioning off homes on eBay just to get them out of the way. At the very least, it serves as cheap publicity (really cheap) for the investment company. Hmm, I wonder what the delivery cost would be.
When asked about seeing the house, the new owner said that she hasn’t been able to get any information from the seller, and she doesn’t want to travel 300 miles to see the house if she can’t get inside. She also expressed concern that the house might be haunted.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog and caring for little ones in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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