You can bid on a unique 17,000 square foot house built inside a cave! The cave in Festus, Missouri, was initially purchased by the Sleeper family in 2003 on eBay. They built a complete house in the cave, including a laundry, kitchen, party room, and it even comes with its own water source. Starting bid is $300,000. Link to story. Link to auction.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.
My impression of the place today was much different. The grounds were in terrible condition, scrap metal, junk, broke rusted vehicles, and very poorly taken care of.
The home itself wasnt professionally built, but put together by Mr Sleeper and his freinds. It definately showed. The edges of the front of the home were sealed with liquid insulation and drooling down the front of the home.
Mr Sleeper didnt seem as humble as he was on the news spot. When I asked what he wanted to close on the home, he said his magic number would be $1 Million. This coming from a man that invested around 20% that amount, and is close to loosing everything.
His 17,000 sq ft home, is actually only 5,000 sq ft (so he says) unfinished, with the remaing 12,000 or so being just a tunnel traveling down the cave and unlivable.
A mortgage will never be acheived on the place, which is his real issue. The fact is, a home like this will never pass inspection with huge issues of humidity, and gases that the cave emmits.
Whomever is seriously considering this place, had better be ready to drop some major money on controlling all of the issues that come with a cave, before it can pass an inspection. Which from Mr Sleeper, also consists of a $50,000 cost to shock test the property. Not to mention the fact, that the new owner will need to be paying with cash.
I hope him the best, and that his family doesnt loose their home. But the reality is, he only needs $80,000 or so to keep it, and I'm not sure the property is worth that much.