'Troll' Home Goes for $430K, Well Above Asking

UPDATE Jul 2, 2023 8:20 AM CDT

It was listed for $250,000, but a funky dwelling near downtown L.A. known as the "troll apartment" has sold for $180,000 above that, reports the Los Angeles Times. The small residence set on a bridge over a drainage tunnel drew national attention and an energetic bidding war. The buyer of the $430,000 home in the Alhambra neighborhood is identified only as a retired high school teacher.

Jun 9, 2023 1:33 PM CDT

A waterfront property close to downtown Los Angeles is listed on the market for $250,000. So what's the catch? For starters, you have to live on a bridge. Which is why this 462-square-foot, one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Alhambra has been dubbed the "troll apartment," per UPI. (See the listing.) But that's not scaring away potential buyers—quite the opposite. Despite a leak in the roof and associated mold problems, offers have already topped $300,000, KTLA reports. As real estate agent Douglas Lee tells the outlet, there's plenty of potential for the apartment situated beneath a main street and above the arch of a bridge overlooking the Alhambra Wash. "It's definitely the most unique listing I've ever had in my entire residential real estate career," says Lee of Compass Real Estate, per UPI.

And it's technically a bargain. Lee notes it's one of just 11 properties in Los Angeles County listed for $250,000 or less. According to USA Today, the asking price is actually "$100,000 less than the average cost of a one-bedroom home in Alhambra." Built in 1949, the apartment includes a balcony overlooking the Wash and a rooftop patio at street level, though no parking. The current owner purchased it for $72,000 in 2005 and ultimately used it as a storage unit. But with some improvements, it could be a full-time residence. Plenty of house-hunters apparently see the potential. "We didn't know how responsive the market would be," Lee says of the multiple offers flooding in. "I knew that we'd have a lot [of interest], but never in my wildest dreams did I see this." (More real estate stories.)