Developer Buys Square-Inch Property On eBay
SPENCER, Ind. (AP) - A Michigan real estate developer was the highest bidder for a square-inch piece of land in Owen County, shelling out $1,752.60 for the parcel in a wooded ravine.Andy Gutman, chief financial officer with NAI Farbman near Detroit, had the highest of nine bids and won the postage stamp-sized property on eBay.
Bidding on the .0000000159 of an acre started at $1,224 - the amount owned in back taxes, interest and fees after the land went unsold during a recent tax sale.
The online auction ended Thanksgiving evening.
Owen County attorney Richard Lorenz said he'll make final arrangements on Monday to transfer the deed for the land southeast of Terre Haute.
The Associated Press left messages seeking comment Saturday at Gutman's office.
One of the unsuccessful bidders, John Jadamed, of Japan, said he had planned to carry the land in his pocket if he'd won the property.
"I know it was a lot of money for a little bit of land, but something about it made me laugh and want to buy it," Jadamec said in an e-mail to the paper. "I still think it would have been fun to own."
At the per-square-inch selling price, an acre of the land would have cost more than $7 billion.
After the land's back taxes are paid - along with the $35 listing fee for eBay - First National Bank in Cloverdale will receive $492.92.
The CEO of the real estate company Gutman works for jokes that the company is "contemplating subdividing" the property. It's about the size of a postage stamp.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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