ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A Zillow listing posted on Tuesday is getting hot for all the wrong reasons.
- The fire happened about 9 months ago; house condemned
- Photo and $99,000 price has grabbed attention on social media
- LINK: View the listing on Zillow's website
- More Pinellas County headlines
It features a photo of a St. Petersburg home engulfed in flames for the sale price of $99,000, with a caption that reads "bring your smores (sic) to the campfire and build your dream home!"
"It's a smoking hot deal posted to the internet and people liked it," said Realtor Dylan Jaeck. "That's going to obviously grab your attention."
Jaeck said he decided to use the house fire photo in his listing for two reasons, to get attention and so that potential buyers realize the house has to be demolished.
"The reason why we put the fire picture up is so you know that this property has to be torn down and you can build a new dream spec home," he said. "It's creative marketing. It's a niche. I got people talking."
The lot is located at 742 Southwest Blvd. N. in St. Petersburg. The listing calls it a quiet area with a lot of expensive homes in the neighborhood.
John Welch, 60, lives next to the lot for sale and said he took the picture of the house on fire that's featured on Zillow.
"My nephew called me this morning and said your picture's in the paper and I go 'what,'" he said. "I think it's great."
Welch said the home caught on fire about nine months ago and has since been condemned. Jaeck said he has been in real estate for about five years and has never seen a house fire used to list a property and has gotten some negative feedback from other agents.
"Some Realtors and even some brokers tried to think that it's looking like it's very unprofessional, that I would post someone's house that's on fire," he said. "But on the neutral side of it, people are thinking hey, he's smart... and potentially it could bring me a buyer."