This article was last updated Aug. 13, 2025.
Many real estate headlines paint a bleak picture of today’s market. Elevated mortgage rates. Exhausted homebuilders. Skittish homebuyers. Leery homeowners. And increasingly uncertain economic terrain. But instead of throwing in the towel, agents are crafting unique marketing strategies to rouse interest — the most novel of which may be the rise of listings priced at nearly nothing.
One of the agents leading the charge with this strategy is Ieasha Larkpor, managing broker at Thunder Team Realty in Oklahoma City. Larkpor made international news in June when she listed a downtown OKC townhome for $35. The price was inspired by the home’s first owner, former OKC Thunder star Kevin Durant, who donned No. 35 during his tenure with the now-championship team.
Ieasha Larkpor
“When I sat down with my sellers about how we’re going to market and promote the property, we noticed after looking at comps in the area that there was a property for sale in the [neighborhood], and it had been on the market for an extended amount of time, like 300-plus days,” she recently told Inman. “Our timeline is a little tight, and we don’t want to be the house that sits around.”
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” she added. “So we said, ‘Hey, that’s not going to work for us.’ We had to find something that made our house stand out more. And the fact that it used to be owned by Kevin Durant certainly helps.”
The strategy appears to have paid off: Larkpor said she’s received an avalanche of offers from homebuyers, some of whom thought a $35 check would be enough to seal the deal. However, she said the majority of homebuyers realized it was a marketing technique and came through with serious offers.
“When we listed it, we received several offers,” she said. “I mean, people who have a pre-approval letter for like $400,000 still see this as a value [and are] placing offers. And even though that may not be our target price or the price that we have in mind, I think it’s all the same. I think if you list a property and it’s even slightly under value, you’re going to have a lot of people come and offer on it.”
Larkpor said the listing has been on the market for 62 days, which is a little longer than what she and her sellers anticipated. But the listing’s popularity has yet to die down, with the broker’s calendar chock full of scheduled interviews with ESPN, The New York Post and several other global publications.
The OKC Thunder’s 2025 championship win has given the listing an extra boost, with increasingly competitive offers coming in from basketball fans jumping at the chance to own an NBA star’s former home.
“I think this is the perfect storm for us,” she said. “I think in 60 days it’s going to be pending, and everyone will see what the published price is once it’s done.”
Larkpor is not alone in trying this strategy. In a June market analysis, Realtor.com found the number of homes with $1 asking prices has risen by double-digit percentages, signaling the struggle to attract homebuyers.
Hannah Jones | Credit: Realtor.com
“In June, 512 homes were listed for sale at a price of $1 — 24 percent more than June 2024 and 82.9 percent more than in June 2023,” Realtor.com Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones said in the report. “The number of homes listed for $1 has climbed steadily over the last year as sellers look for creative ways to draw buyer attention.”
New Jersey-based agent Brendan DeSilva spoke to Realtor.com for its story, noting that the tactic does have some drawbacks, such as an avalanche of inquiries from homebuyers looking to snap up a home for $1 and the ensuing disappointment when they realize they can’t.
However, the drawbacks are worth the attention he’s garnered for several of his Newark listings.
“I knew it would trigger INSANITY,” he told Realtor.com. “The buyers have been split between confused, $1 bids, and a lot of serious attention. Managing was nearly impossible; we began reviewing comps over the phone with buyers.”
For agents wanting to test this tactic out in their own markets, Larkpor had some advice. She suggested that they need to take neighborhood comps and local trends into account, and it certainly doesn’t hurt if the home has a unique feature or is tied to a famous owner.
“It’s not like we just put it up for cheap just because. It really is a special property,” she said. “My advice is to make sure you have an owner who’s willing to market in a new way and to read the market. What type of people are purchasing near your listing? What market demographic of people are finding value in that house, and will they understand your marketing?”
“I think a lot of people are used to doing things one way when it comes to selling real estate,” she added. “And sometimes you have to do something that’s a little unique.”
