House in Riverdale on the Market for $1

Call it a gimmick, call it a brilliant marketing move, or call it crazy, one home owner in East York has put their home up on the market for $1.00.

The home is located near Dundas and Carlaw, an area where similar homes routinely sell for $375K +. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and was recently renovated by a professional home flipper.

Perhaps this is a sign that spring fever has hit the Toronto Real Estate Market. Although sales are down from last years record pace, the fair weather of late seems to be bringing back some of that only-in-Toronto insanity. More likely though this is a sign that savvy sellers are realizing that in order to stand out in a changing market you have to stand out from the crowd. Pricing your house for a dollar will do the trick as evidenced by this story being on just about every Toronto-based 6 o'clock news program today.

For the pragmatically curious reader, no, the seller is not obligated to accept an offer on their house if that offer is for $1. By law, they are free to accept or reject any offer they receive. This extreme example illustrates the arbitrary nature of asking prices in real estate and one reason why bidding wars are so common.

Just for fun: put your guess on what you think the final selling price will be in the comments section. Closest to the sale price without going over wins bragging rights and a lifetime supply of awesomeness.

Andrew la Fleur is a registered real estate agent and regular contributor to blogTO.

Photo from Asim Khan.