Oklahoma agent's $1 list price strategy pays off, but he's wary of doing it again

Oklahoma-based Keller Williams real estate pro Ryan Hukill reckons that he’s told his clients for years that if they list their home for just a single dollar, they would still get a good sales price on their home as the market would dictate what the real price should be.

Well, Hukill’s theory has finally been confirmed after one daring seller decided to take him up on his offer, listing their four-bedroom, four-bathroom home for just $1. That led to a deluge of offers from fascinated buyers that are well above the property’s actual value.

“This time, I had some sellers who were bold enough to take me up on trying that theory out,” Hukill told the Associated Press.

Hukill said that the pricing “created a little bit of a storm”, fetching “tons” of offers and going under contract in less than a week.

The home, which is actually valued at around $413,000 based on comps, encompasses 4,000 square feet and has a swimming pool and a 2-acre lot. By appearance, the home has nothing noticeably wrong with it and looks move-in ready. The $1 list price was a strategic move to ignite a bidding war that would drive up the home’s contract price, Hukill said.

Just two days after posting the listing, an open house attracted more than 60 interested buyers, seven of whom made offers on the property. Hukill didn’t share any details of the offer that was accepted as the deal is still pending, but told AP that the price was “a little bit above what the sellers thought they’d get.”

In this case Hukill’s strategy paid off, but other experts warn that listing at such a low price could be a gamble.

“Many of the buyers may be unqualified and submitting offers that are not worth consideration,” said William Fastow, a real estate professional with Sotheby’s in the Washington, D.C., area. “These junk offers all legally have to be presented to the owner by the listing agent and detracts from the agent’s time and resources, crowding out legitimate buyers.”

Hukill himself admits that he’d be wary of using the strategy again.

“I definitely felt like we got some tire kickers, and a lot of jokesters saying they’d pay me $100 or $1,000,” Hukill said. He added that “even serious buyers didn’t know what to offer, or where to start.”