# Why would a lot price be $500,001? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888 "2024-04-29T00:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/1 "2024-04-29T00:41:09Z")
A piece of land near my house recently went on the market, with a list price of $500,001. Can you think of any reason why they would have that extra dollar on the price? Looking at other nearby listings on Zillow, I don’t see any others with such a bizarre price. I’m wondering if there’s some specific legal reason, or if the seller just has some weird superstition or something. This is in California, if it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/2 "2024-04-29T00:44:23Z")
Maybe somebody just fat-fingered it? ---
**Author:** ![Beesnest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@Beesnest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beesnest)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/3 "2024-04-29T00:45:51Z")
Maybe they want to exclude it from a search that is looking for a 4k to 5k lot and have it seen by searches for higher prices. They will look like a bargain to the right person. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/4 "2024-04-29T01:01:51Z")
That’s my guess as well. They want it to appear in the 500,001 through 750,000 grouping rather than the 300,001 to 500,000 grouping (or whatever the numbers in the search engine are). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/5 "2024-04-29T01:02:58Z")
They want more than half-a-million for it on principle. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/6 "2024-04-29T01:28:46Z")
Or for some reason they want the price to be exactly divisible by three. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/7 "2024-04-29T14:02:36Z")
Property owner wants at least a half million for the property. Real estate agent disagrees, but complies. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/8 "2024-04-29T20:11:55Z")
$500,000 for the surface title and $1 for the mineral rights. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/9 "2024-04-29T20:29:42Z")
**Property owner:** Set the asking price at a hard $500,000. I want $500k for my property, and not a penny less. **Real estate agent:** I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work like that. If you refuse to negotiate with potential buyers at all, I’m afraid we can’t do business. **Property owner:** Fine. Set the asking price at $500,001. **Real estate agent:** 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/10 "2024-04-29T21:07:01Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Maybe somebody just fat-fingered it? Except the 1 and the 0 are on opposite ends of the keyboard. > [@Beesnest](#): > > Maybe they want to exclude it from a search that is looking for a 4k to 5k lot and have it seen by searches for higher prices. They will look like a bargain to the right person. My guess as well. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/11 "2024-04-29T21:15:55Z")
Perhaps the seller is a fan of _The Price Is Right_? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/12 "2024-04-29T21:18:27Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Except the 1 and the 0 are on opposite ends of the keyboard. Maybe they were using the numpad. But I agree that’s probably that they wanted to be the cheapest in the $500,000 - whatever range and show up at the top of the search. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2024, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/13 "2024-04-30T00:02:18Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Or for some reason they want the price to be exactly divisible by three. I would never have thought to check that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2024, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/14 "2024-04-30T11:21:38Z")
> [@solost](#): > > **Real estate agent:** I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work like that. If you refuse to negotiate with potential buyers at all, I’m afraid we can’t do business. When I moved in with my gf I put my house up for sale. I told the real estate agent I wanted my asking price, and not to bother me with offers less than that. The first offer she received we played phone rage for a few days. When I learned she was calling with a lower than asking price offer, I was pissed off at her wasting my time. She said she had to give me a chance to counter. So……I countered with an amount higher than my asking price. She told the potential buyer my counter ask and apparently they freaked out at my unconventional reply. They threatened me with a lawsuit which never happened. A month later someone agreed to my asking price. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-a-lot-price-be-500-001/1000888/15 "2024-04-30T15:01:16Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I would never have thought to check that. Since a number is divisible by three if its digits add up to a number divisible by three, I saw that adding a 1 would make it so.