Woman Buys House on eBay for $1.75

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The listing reads, in part, "FREE HOUSE. No joke, you can have this house for free…hit the buy-it-now button and it’s yours."

The listing goes on to explain that the seller had bought the house on eBay as well, and didn’t realize there were back taxes owed (about $850), and that the house was condemned.

"My loss could be your gain," says the listing. "If somebody knows what they are doing and can do something with this house they are welcome to have it. Maybe the house can be resold. Considering the back taxes and the possible repairs cost I would like to give the house away to somebody as opposed to trying to sell it. Hit the buy it now button and it’s yours."

The accompanying photo reveals a sad-looking house in disrepair. But still, for a buck seventy-five, that’s still a deal…right?

At least eight people thought so, and bid on it. It began as a free offer, but with the mad bidding war that ensued, the price rose to a whopping $1.75.

The winner was 30-year-old Joanne Smith, who lives in Chicago. "I don’t have any plans to move to Saginaw," said Smith to local reporters. "I am going to try to sell it."

She says she knows she’ll have to pay the taxes, and for some yard cleanup and possibly repairs that will remove the house from the condemned list. But she’s hoping that someone else will cough up a profit for her once the house is in better shape.

As is usual in cases like this, the bloggers commenting on the story often have more insight than those directly involved. One quipster asked, "I wonder how much the shipping was," and another smart-aleck wrote, "Considering the part of Saginaw where this house is located, I think she got ripped off."

Said the seller on the listing, who claims to have not known much before buying it him- or herself. "I knew the house was in poor condition, but it was news to me that it had been condemned."

"The people who I bought the house from, they are not giving me any information about it," Smith said. "I know that the property is abandoned and that there are taxes owed on the house, but all I have is their e- mail."

And while Smith says she is not having buyer’s remorse, there’s no way she’s going to drive to Saginaw to look at her new piece of real estate, because "It could be haunted or something."