EDMONTON — David Stockburger’s daughter does not seem destined for a career as a real estate agent.
When Stockburger and his wife decided to purchase a 100-year-old derelict home, renovate and sell it, their then-six-year-old daughter suggested a listing price of $6.
“I thought, ‘Oh that’s really cute,’ ” Stockburger recalled. “But then I started thinking about it.”
The idea stuck. He decided to tack on $5 and the 11-Dollar House contest was born.
Entrants are asked to send in contact info, a video explaining why they’d like to own the house and an $11 entry fee.
So far, only 13 people have completed applications. Stockburger said if they don’t get at least 25,000 entries, they will sell the house instead and return entry fees.
He launched the contest shortly after Labour Day, but temporarily shut it down when he learned the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission was investigating its legality.
Along with police, the commission ruled Stockburger wasn’t in violation of the criminal code, a spokesman confirmed.
Stockburger, a lawyer who’s decided to step away from his desk for a while, purchased the house for $125,000 in September 2006.
It was a mess: condemned by the city, crumbling foundation, and stripped down to a bare-bones frame.
His research revealed the house had gone down hill after former Alberta NDP leader Grant Notley owned it.
“At the beginning I thought, ‘No problem. We’ll be done this place in six months.’ I was naive. I didn’t know any better,” he said with a laugh.
Stockburger had helped his father renovate a cabin up north and completed his own home renos in the past, but the project has been “quite a learning experience.”
In the end, it will be entirely re-done, complete with new appliances.
The website is:
www.the11dollarhouse.com.