The decrepit state of this Michigan home may send shivers down your spine, but its listing images are even more bone-chilling.
This 1,873-square-foot, five-bedroom spread in the city of Muskegon — which went viral on Instagram this month for showing a skeleton costume-clad man striking creepy poses throughout — has found a buyer, its listing agents told The Post.
Listed for $74,900, the property sold on Wednesday for $63,000 to an investor who plans on flipping it.
“It was just unbelievable how much publicity we got [from] the pictures,” said Lisa Vela, of Five Star Real Estate, one of the agents who represented this listing. “I’m interested in seeing what it looks like when it’s all done.”
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, but followers of the popular Zillow Gone Wild account on Instagram were largely shocked to see the photos used to market the house. While some were cheeky, such as the skeleton man holding a sign that says “GREAT BONES” as he stands on the porch, others were downright scary. One image shows the costumed creature peeking through an open closet door, while another showed his menacing grin visible through a hole in a wall.
The post, which earned nearly 100,000 likes, netted some 2,600 comments from followers, including, “Is this supposed to encourage or discourage potential buyers?” and, “That’s a no for me dawg.” But others, such as “Marketing GENIUS,” supported the eerie effort.
The idea for the shoot happened during a walk-through of the home, whose listing says it is “*NOT HAUNTED*.” Its touches include hardwood floors throughout, wood trims and pillars.
“It just had a lot of beautiful features and I told Lisa, ‘Man, the bones on this are so good!’” said Bre McCarthy, the other real estate agent who repped the listing. “It was kind of funny because we wanted to do some fun marketing for Halloween and the timing just worked out perfectly. I was like, ‘Hey, let’s get a skeleton in there and do something fun.’ ”
The skeleton man, she said, is a colleague’s fiancé.
“He has a really good sense of humor, so he was all up for it when we told him what our plan was,” said McCarthy.
It isn’t clear why the home, which had been left vacant for a couple of months, fell into disrepair, but the skeleton gives it a bit of charm. Another listing image shows him painting a wall, while another shows him enjoying a moment of glee in the light-filled kitchen.
Another brokerage had previously tried to sell the home in May for $79,500, but Five Star took it over this month, according to Zillow, and the deal happened fast.
“We had thousands of views on Zillow,” said McCarthy, who added the team got their first offer within two days of taking over the listing.
Asked if the photos lured in the new owner, she said, “I definitely think it helped.”
