Buy This House for $150 (If You Write the Winning Essay!)

While watching the news last week, I saw a story about a house selling for $150. That's right. Only one zero. You have to submit a 200 word essay and you'd be responsible for the title and taxes if your essay is chosen. The seller is looking for 3,000 submissions (which would mean he would sell it for $450,000!). The house is a super cute with two bedrooms and one bath in The Heights of Houston. Even though we just moved in to our home six months ago, I considered submitting an essay just for the hell of it.

Ultimately, I decided not to submit the essay, but I've pasted it below just because I didn't want to waste any words. After reading the inspection report, I decided the repairs wouldn't be something I would be able to afford, even if I only bought the house for $150 (plus title and taxes). I had originally looked for something smaller, but we ended up in our 1,653 square foot home.

Check it out and submit your essay if you're interested! The deadline to submit your $150 and essay is June 13th, 2015.

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Living large in a small space (and on an even smaller budget) has been my goal the past few years. Reevaluating how we lived and ultimately our life story has resulted in some life-changing decisions.

That very idea prompted us to pay down our student debt by tracking every penny we spent in our quest for financial freedom. During our journey, we erased $17,000 of student debt in less than 18 months, moved from Austin to Houston in hopes of finding better jobs, and established the careers we'd always dreamed of in the fields we studied. With these accomplishments behind us, we then expanded our family from two to three and welcomed our baby girl earlier this year. 

This home would suit our minimalist lifestyle and, when paired with my knack for balancing budgets, could prove to be the perfect match for our family—both financially and environmentally. Without a mortgage, we could secure our financial success for years to come and focus on raising our daughter to instill the very values that led us to the path we are on today. We'd love nothing more than to stroll down the sidewalk in The Heights with one less stress.