Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Rather than try to make an ugly home sound good, some real estate pros are taking a different approach in their listings by keeping it real and proudly advertising a home's shortcomings in the hopes of standing out from the crowd.
According to a report in realtor.com, there's a new trend emerging for “ugly homes”, that describe the properties as “the worst in the neighborhood” or “dirty” as if it's something to be proud of.
As self-destructive as this might seem, one real estate pro swears by it. “People love eye-catching headlines, and reverse psychology seems to work,” said Cara Ameer, a real estate professional in Ponte Vedra, Florida. She added that these types of honest descriptions get people's attention, and often leave people thinking “how bad can it really be?”.
Or example, one bright real estate agent decided to list a three-bedroom, two-bathroom Northridge, California home as a “flipper's fantasy” so long as they pay “cash only”. The home, which is selling for $475,000, sports an overgrown landscape, cracked walls, missing floorboards and a generally dirty interior. The listing notes that it is “truly the worst home in the best neighborhood.”
The listing might not sound all that fancy but it certainly gets attention – the property has been viewed over 120,000 times since it was first listed a couple of weeks ago, realtor.com reports.
It isn't the only home that's proudly claiming to be the “worst in the neighborhood” though. A three-bedroom Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania home uses a similar line, saying “We have the winner in the ugly-house contest with this. Because of its horrendous condition, you have the opportunity for the buy of a lifetime.”
