What a great way to get free advertising and publicity. The $1.00 house is now the most talked about property in Toronto. Omar Ibrahim, the owner of the 2-storey house located at 93 Badgerow Avenue, came up with this publicity stunt to get his house noticed. And that he did. The story has appeared everywhere. Obviously he has no intentions of selling the house for $1.00. In a market that is not as hot as it was (Toronto’s residential unit sales dropped 13.4 % and new listings dropped 7 %) Mr. Ibrahim felt that an extra edge was needed to create interest in his property – a semi in Riverdale with three bedrooms, new flooring, appliances, fresh paint, and a finished basement.

I was actually disappointed to hear that this marketing strategy is not new. According to real estate broker Tony Bassels, in 2004 a house in Willowdale was listed for $1.00. In 16 days it sold for approximately $960,000. The interest generated by the $1.00 listing was believed to have contributed to the high sale price. Mr. Ibrahim has done his homework well. He buys, renovates, and sells houses. In January 2008 he purchased the property at 93 Badgerow Ave. for $342,000. Clearly he will not be selling the house for bargain basement prices. Quite the contrary, he is hoping that the interest generated by the $1.00 listing will drive up the interest in the property and the selling price. It will be interesting to see if lightning strikes twice and if this marketing strategy works again.