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Sometimes Gimmicks do sell homes, especially when they're alive.

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Select One

I just blogged this on my own site www.dixonteamoc.com but I had to share it with all you active rainers too. 

    Last week a home for sale in Huntington Beach offered more than basic staging, this house included a reptile petting zoo! Ok so maybe it was just one reptile, but the three legged iguana who's name comes from the number of limbs he currently has, is more than any animal I've met at an open house. According to an article on the OC Register's website, "Three" has been living in this backyard for over 10 years and from what I can tell he's seen a whole lot of home improvement go on in that time. 

    
    With an asking price under $550K this house attracted as much attention as the lizard. It's square footage is highly deceiving when you include it's outdoor entertainment area, complete with giant 3 legged lizard, which can easily be enjoyed by over 25 people (the patio, not the lizard). Because of the time and effort that the owners have put into the outdoor area it seems like people were happy to look past the fact that it's only 1100 square feet. It's not often that people are willing to pay more money for a smaller home but that's what we saw in this case. The home is so nicely upgraded and prepared for entertaining that it would be tough for anyone to come up with ways to improve on what's already there. 

 

    I have to wonder, what's the strangest animal anyone's come across at a listing or an open house, could this be it? And what would you do if you were looking at homes for sale in Huntington Beach and came across a giant lizard? Would it be time to move on, or could you see past the scales?  

 

Dixon Team OC

http://www.dixonteamoc.com

 


 

Comments (5)

Kerry Knudson
Cherry Creek Properties, LLC - Colorado - Castle Rock, CO
Broker, Realtor, SFR

Wow...I'm getting goosebumps!  I'm not really into reptiles but I'm sure Three is very nice ;)  I've seen smaller lizards and frogs in tanks inside homes...those are always interesting.  But I must say that the ickiest animal encounter was a home that had 5 ferrets in a humongous cage in their living room.  While the ferrets were sweet enough, the odor was just very, very strong and off-putting...we seriously could not wait to get out of the otherwise nice home.  Kind of a shame!

Feb 28, 2010 04:39 AM
Dixon Team OC
RE/MAX Select One - Huntington Beach, CA

Kerry, 

     Ferrets are illegal here in California so we don't have that problem often but people do still own them from time to time. I winder if "Three" is part of the deal since he's practically a piece of the landscaping. The one pet I just can not understand are tarantulas. I just can't wrap my head around why someone would want a huge spider in their house. No one wants a huge cockroach to live in a cage in their house, why a spider? 

 

Dixon Team OC

http://www.dixonteamoc.com

 

Feb 28, 2010 05:19 PM
Kerry Knudson
Cherry Creek Properties, LLC - Colorado - Castle Rock, CO
Broker, Realtor, SFR

Oh, do you know why ferrets are illegal in CA?  Interesting...

I hear you, I am not into spiders one bit - eek!  I'll just take a nice, fluffy kitten instead :)

Mar 01, 2010 02:52 AM
Dixon Team OC
RE/MAX Select One - Huntington Beach, CA

Well from what I understand, they're illegal because they can quickly take over a wild life area if released. Rapid reproduction and the fact that they're predators can make it dangerous for any type of bird sanctuary or other wild life habitat. Californians are VERY into their wildlife habitats. 

 

Mar 01, 2010 05:02 AM
Dixon Team OC
RE/MAX Select One - Huntington Beach, CA

Well it looks like the owners accepted an offer of $41k over asking price! Maybe next time I have a home for sale in Huntington Beach I'll find a lucky lizard. 

 

Dixon Team OC

http://www.dixonteamoc.com

Mar 05, 2010 08:45 AM