In true New Orleans fashion, a local agent decided to add a touch of mysticism to a listing for a dilapidated property — and, after he decorated it with a lot of creepy dolls, it sold in one day.
After buying a 1960s-era home that was almost entirely destroyed during Hurricane Ida, Tony Bertucci of NOLA Living Realty listed it for $149,500 with the intention of flipping. He knew that the house did not look like much with all of that peeling paint, water-stained walls and creaking stairs. To “lighten up the photos of the house,” Bertucci staged listing shots with some of the Carnival-style dolls that the former owner had left behind.
“I did it just to get the house some attention, because the house was so hideous and horrifying,” Bertucci told local news outlet KNWA. “[…] I was creeped out just looking at the photographer taking the photos.”
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Within a day, the home became the most popular listing on Realtor.com and several buyers came out with offers and questions about whether the home was haunted. Bertucci ended up accepting one of the offers 24 hours after listing.
The home itself is a 1,370-square-foot, three-bedroom property in New Orleans suburb of Metairie. While agents regularly do everything from dressing up in dinosaur costumes to staging sexy photo shoots to attract attention to a listing, the dolls felt natural to Bertucci due to New Orleans’ obsession with anything haunted and mystical.
“And when we say dolls, we don’t mean they’re cute, adorable, or cuddly,” reads the listing description. “No, these dolls are creepy — and make an ideal match for this decrepit residence.”