Wannabe homebuyers noticed something unusual in this home listing. Photo / Facebook, WXYZ-TV Channel 7
Wannabe homebuyers noticed something unusual in this home listing. Photo / Facebook, WXYZ-TV Channel 7
Many homes for sale of real estate websites would be lucky to receive more than a thousand views.
But one five-bedroom home in the US has seen more than 40,000 people eye up the property after a rather unfortunate slip-up in a photo on the Zillow website.
One of the photos of the home, which has an asking price of US$165,000 ($260,500), a suspicious white substance arranged in lines appears on the kitchen bench.
Hundreds of intrigued commenters questioned what the substance might be, with most saying the substance looks like cocaine.
Some even asked if this could land the homeowner — located in Detroit — in trouble.
Despite the suspicious image, police told 7 Action News they wouldn't be investigating the matter because there wasn't enough information to secure a search warrant.
The property has since been removed from the website, however it is now doing the rounds on Facebook.
Police told 7 Action News they wouldn't be investigating the matter because there wasn't enough information to secure a search warrant. Photo / Facebook, WXYZ-TV Channel 7
However, according to the boyfriend of the homeowner, the whole thing was a joke.
"I was like, I'm wondering if I did something like this if anybody would even notice or if somebody did notice it, that it would go viral and it went viral," a man identified only by his first name, Jeff, told 7 Action News in a video and story on WXYZ-TV's website.
"It went too viral."
The listing received 29,000 views inside 24 hours.
When asked if he was satisfied with the popularity of the listing, Jeff said, "Yes and no." While he's happy about the attention, it's led to a bombardment of inquiries.
And because the house is on the market without a real estate agent, he and his girlfriend have had to field them all.
Zillow told 7 Action News the company removed the photo because it was against one of their rules.
"We removed the photo for violating our Good Neighbour Policy," a Zillow spokesperson said.
"Our customer support team monitors the site, reviews flagged content, and takes action to remove content that violates our policies."
Even if it was fake, police said no one should try that publicity ploy again.
"I wouldn't recommend anyone staging something like that to try and gain interest in a home or any piece of property," an Oak Park police officer said.
