Buy my house, I'll throw in the Ferrari

A sign of the times in Thousand Oaks: The seller of a home that has been languishing on the market, and has been reduced in price by $400,000, is now offering to throw in a Ferrari if a buyer will step forward and the price is right.

The four-bedroom, four-ath house, measuring nearly 4,000 square feet, is listed at $1.125 million -- or $1.36 million with the Ferrari. Here's the listing from Redfin.com:

"PRICE REDUCED BY $400,000! Great value for this new, almost 4000 sq. ft. Mediterranean Estate. No Expense spared. High quality craftsmanship throughout. ... Recently appraised at $1,589,000 (per owner). A 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena can possibly be included w/house for purchase price of $1,360,000."

That would value the Ferrari at $235,000. Everything I know about the value of a 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena I learned from reading Hemmings.com, which lists exactly one 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena for sale, asking price $195,500. Of course, the vehicle that comes with the house could be special in every possible way and worth more than that.

--Peter Viles
--Hat tip: KP via e-mail.
Your thoughts? Comments?
Photo Credit: A Ferrari Modena -- not the one that comes with the house, via L.A. Times.

Comments

[Rob]

Nice, a cash-back scam with a twist. Sold !

[Tim K.]

This guy succeeded with his Ferrari offer - he got your attention Peter, and free publicity for his house no doubt.

[mike]

he shouldn't have that car if he needs to unload the house that badly...my car isn't anywhere near 20% of my homes value. the person who buys the house probably can't handle a car like that and will probably stack the thing up anyway...

[Rational Renter]

So by "throw in a Ferrari" you mean "charge you over sticker price for my Ferrari." :)

[Bots]

I live right by this place. It's had for sale signs on and off for almost 3 years. I checked it out a while back and it's absolutely plain vanilla and the layout is really odd. The yard overlooks Hillcrest, so a buyer will really enjoy the traffic noise. It's location provides no sense of community whatsoever. The really funny thing is... there's a copycat of this house RIGHT next to this one. I can't quite remember, but I swear they share a common wall like a duplex. There's a couple more houses on the corner of Hillcrest and N. Conejo School Rd. that sat empty for 3 years after completion! The builder must have really ate it on these. The for sale sign on one of them has been laying in the corner weeds for months. Welcome to the housing crash!

[Lisa]

Granted, the photos online aren't very good, but this is one ugly house. It looks like the blandest, most generic mcmansion you could imagine. Why people like this kind of thing is a mystery to me. Except for the excessive size, there is nothing to justify the inflated price. And with the car thrown in? It's just crass.

[perks]

Thanks, but if I could afford a $1.3 million dollar house in this economy, I'd already own a Ferrari.

[Sfvrealestate]

Great, and then you get to pay property taxes on the Ferrari. That's if the house ever appraises to the "right" price in the first place.

[Ronbo]

Give this housing market another two years of alt-A and pick-a-pay loans melting down, and this guy will have an ad up offering the car for sale, with the house tossed in for free.

[fzdybel]

The Fazzaz is worth $140K tops, even if it were a spider. This offer is completely bogus. Definitely designed to reel in somebody with more money than sense.

[Enzo Ferrari jr]

Peter

First of all there are two Coupe models and at brand new they were $151,245 and 161,940 so this guy is smoking some serious weed if he thinks ANYONE would pay him a PREMIUM of 235,000 for a car that is probably need some serious work. The 195,500 at Hemmings.com was for a Convertible Spider F1 but that is high because the original MSRP was $186,950 for the 2004.

I'll make an offer at 1.000,000 CASH including the Ferrrari

[gman]

How about I buy the Ferrari and he throws in the house?

[bulwark]

I'd pay more for the car than the house--UGLY!!

[javaman]

Let's not forget the Modena is about due for a major service which will set back the hapless buyer about 10k, assuming of course the dude looked after the car.

[E]

Cars.com has 2004 360's for under 140k (asking price). If it's a high mileage example then it would be worth even less. There's a few out of Florida that are 100-120k.

Throw in an Enzo and an F-40 and we'll talk.

[Tombstone Realty]

I'd get rid of the Ferrari too - after all, it's not like that's the kind of car you can live in once you lose your home anyway....now Hondas, that's another story.

[Jane B]

so the buyer pays a higher price to include Ferrari etc., and then pays inflated property taxes based on that sale price for as long as she/he owns the home.

you could have helped wise people up, Peter, by pointing out this fact.

[Buy My House]

Having worked in the house building industry for several years, I am used to putting together some big selling incentives - but never on this sort of scale! Makes my $2000 interior design package look rather meagre!