Dollar Gets Home, but There’s a Catch

Here’s a riddle for the aspiring home buyer.

How can a 2,200-square-foot, single-story ranch home be both priced to move and moved for a price?

Simple. List the property for a dollar. Then have the buyer pay as much as $30,000 to get the structure off your hands.

This creative sales gimmick is being used by one Burbank developer to make way for two homes it hopes to build on a lot at 1036 N. Avon St.

The Burnett Group Inc. is entertaining offers for the home, which has three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a grand living room, family room, fireplace and crown moldings.

In a city where the typical single-family home sells for about $260,000, it’s a steal.

Then again, buyers should know there’s a catch to owning this little slice of the American dream.

“They have to come to our office, give a dollar and show proof that they have a property to put it on,” said Kim Bickford, project coordinator for the Burnett Group.

Bickford said once the new owner qualifies, the company will refer them to house-moving companies. “If they need help obtaining a permit, we’ll help,” Bickford said.

She said because of the size of the house, it will probably be split three ways before it is removed.

“The bottom line,” she said, “is even if you spend $20,000 to move it, $10,000 for a foundation and a buck to buy it, where else can you get a house like that in California?”