Hahaha… and the advertising ideas just keep on flowing ;) I swear, you go years without hearing anything cool at all in the field, and then all of a sudden you’ve got two juicy stories back to back. At least with this one it’s not as permanent as the whole brand tattooing gig. Although again I can’t seem to look away!
And we have NancyO to thank for that today. She passed this over to me this morning and now has me all kinds of intrigued. Here’s what she forwarded, courtesy of the people at Adzookie. (Which sounds very much like “dookie”):
We’re looking for houses to paint. In fact, paint is an understatement. We’re looking for homes to turn into billboards. In exchange, we’ll pay your mortgage every month for as long as your house remains painted
Here are a few things we’re looking for. You must own your home. It cannot be rented or leased. We’ll paint the entire outside of the house, minus the roof, the windows and any awnings. Painting will take approximately 3 – 5 days. Your house must remain painted for at least three months and may be extended up to a year. If, for any reason, you decide to cancel after three months or if we cancel the agreement with you, we’ll repaint your house back to the original colors.
“SIGN ME UP!!!” says the blogger who wants his free home! “What is WRONG with you??” says the wife and the Home Owners Association ;) Always bringing me down I tell ya, always bringing me down… haha… just kidding, you know you’re smarter than me honey! And *maybe* even better looking too.
But seriously, how tempted are you right now? Let’s go over this again:
- YOU GET YOUR MORTGAGE PAID!!
- You can use all that money to pay off all your debt!
- Or buy a brand new wardrobe! Each month!
- Or redo your entire kitchen!
- And then your entire living room!
- Or possibly save a whole year’s worth of college tuition.
- And more importantly, get a FREE coat of paint! haha….
That last one has awesome sauce written all over it. (I don’t know why I just said “awesome sauce” – am I 12?) Even if you do it for just 3 months, they paint it back to your original colors anyways and make it look all brand-new again. I bet they’d even paint it whatever color you wanted too, it’s not like it takes extra work on their behalf.
Ofcourse, then we have the dirty cons to look at here. Literally – it’s now painted on your house! But wonderful artwork aside, your whole privacy will now go out the window. Everyone and their mom will wanna know WHO you are, and WHY you did that. And the TV and News and Radio crews? Yup, they’ll be at your door too. If you think people are nosey now, just wait and see what happens once you become the new billboard next door. Bleh.
But all that considered, I’d totally do it if I could. At least for just 3 months. I’d save well over $6,000 for that! And if we went the entire year? $24,000+!! OH. MY. GOSH. I’d pass out with joy.
And you? Ready to click over and apply? I want pictures if you get selected!
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I think I could do this, at least that is my initial reaction. Imagine the possibilities of being mortgage free at such a young age.
I would absolutely do this if I still had my home. It would take care of all of my consumer debt in a year!
Wow, I would jump on this but my house is brick and then there is the HOA. However I gotta believe that the savings would totally out weigh the HOA fines.
Or someone could use this as an incentive in selling their house. They could say hey buy this house and get 1 year of your mortgage paid! That would attract me to a particular property especially when inventory is as high as it is now.
My house is vinyl siding. But if it wasn’t….I would do it in a heart beat. Yeah, I know my neighbors would hate it, and I would be THAT house. And I really do take pride in my home. BUT….
Even if we did it for 6 months….that would be over $9,000. That kind of coin would totally make a dent in our debt load and make it worth it.
I have posted this to Guitar Guy’s facebook…I’ll keep you updated on if I can convince him or not!! :)
If I owned a house, I would totally try and do this – especially considering they paint it back. It’s just a house – and I bet it would make giving directions to people really easy lol.
I am tempted to do this but I think the HOA would hold me back :(
I would also continue to pay my normal mortgage while they pay my mortgage, that way the debt gets paid down faster!
Too bad I have so much brick on the front of the house. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t even have to think about this, I’d just do it! It would be awesome to use $20k in one year to eliminate a little other debt or to double up on the mortgage payment.
Hm…my house is due to the painted by the HOA this year. Maybe if I save them the money of painting my house they’ll waive some of the fines for doing this? Beyond that, what ARE the monthly fines for a code violation? Surely it can’t be as much as my mortgage. And since I’m already breaking one code, they probably don’t fine per code section broken, right? This former farm girl certainly wouldn’t mind having a menagerie of farm animals or a clothesline.
If our neighborhood didn’t have an HOA, I would TOTALLY do this! (I am the Prez of it though, what do you think the odds are that I could convince the rest of the board to vote for a rule change in our Covenants? hehe) Seriously though, to put up with an oddly painted house for a year in exchange for getting my mortgage paid for that year? That’s a pretty sweet deal.
@Niki – I can imagine it! Gets me all kinds of turned on! Haha…
@Rita – Oh yeah. It’s too bad you can’t do this if you rent ;)
@Matt – I like that!!! 1 year free mortgage if you buy my house? Hell yeah!!
@Mysti – They can probably paint over vinyl I think? I’d enter and find out ;)
@Brandi – You might have to throw in a little somethin’ somethin’, haha… let me know if he goes for it!
@Miss Lissy – Hahhhha… indeed, it would ;)
@Sarah W. – That’s 1/2 the reason I can’t do it either :( And oh yeah – you have double the mortgages being paid? Whew. Thousands of dollars saved over the course of that mortgage.
@Wade – You should just apply and see what happens! There’s gotta be brick paint, yes? :)
@Walnut – Hahha, I like the way you think farm girl :)
@Jennifer R – That is awesome! Esp if you just did it and came to that first meeting like, “what? is that wrong?” haha… never talked w/ a president of an HOA before, nice to meet you ;)
My house is brick but we don’t have a HOA. I might ask my husband what he thinks about this tonight…of course, it would only mean $740 a month for us, but that’s still $8880 over a year…hmmm…
Now if only I lived in the US…..
O…
M…
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This is insane craziness and I love it! (Oh, and saying “awesome sauce” in my head made me LOL, literally.) I don’t even care what my neighbors would think – I could save so much money over the course of a year!!! Thanks for sharing, fuhreal!
This is a great idea (at least in theory), I think the best part about it would be the fight with the HOA. I would agree to the 3 month, get in a fight with the HOA over it and give in 3 months later.
As you said, the fresh coat of paint afterwards is almost worth it on its own.
Sign me up!!!
Our HOA won’t let us do this kind of thing though. :(
This is GREAT :-) I would sell my house out in a second for cash. Think of what I could do with that money. In-fact a few years ago I looked into selling out both of my cars for AD-SPACE but I never heard back from the company that was doing it. (just had to live in or near a major city and do x amount of driving a week/month) So my neighbors will be upset for a little while I’m sure they will get over it or sign up just like I did :-) As long as I’m not promoting something too risky ;-] then paint away
I wonder if its principal only or if it includes principal, interest, or escrow?
I guess I’m the outlier here, but I’m in a condo, brick bldg, and HOA (former president as well), which all nixes this whole idea. I’m paid off, but I still wouldn’t do it, and I live in the city, not the ‘burbs.
I just don’t want any more visual clutter, commercialism, and so much ugliness around me. We have an “artistic” house not too far away, on a main street, and it’s hideous, not artistic. I feel so badly for anyone trying to sell near this thing. Since it’s in the city and no HOA, no restrictions on doing whatever she wants outside, never mind what the neighbors have to live with. Would anyone like to live across the street from Nazi swastikas? Yep, she did that.
That is so utterly tacky, like the majority of marketing. However, I would consider it for having a home bought outright for us :)
I passed this on to my daughter !!Hope she gets picked They will enjoy the extra cash to work on the house inside and maybe a vacationto !! They are the prefect family to have this done to the house and in a great local for MANY to see .Just wonder what the City could say But o well let wait till then and see what could happen !!Great Ideal !!
J – this is awesome… especially since the house we bought in New Orleans is bright green (normal here) and we’ll probably need a new coat of paint soon! I’ve received some quotes and it’s ridiculously expensive to get it painted. I think the bright green might be a good backdrop for a “Budgets are Sexy” logo… Thoughts??? :)
UG you totally stole my post for tomorrow!!! And yes, if I didn’t live in an HOA I would be all over this!
Oh, I’d do it! But not in this house… unpainted cedar clad + mortgage of only $250 a month, not really worth it. If I lived elsewhere though… totally.
this is freaking sweet. if I owned my house I would TOTALLY do this! I’m definitely going to try to get my parents to look into this :)
@Crystal – If your husband is as cool as me, he should say yes ;)
@Laura – Hey, advertising works internationally too!
@Charity – Fuhreal! Hah! I think you just became my new best friend :)
@Billy – Right. Might take them a month or so to even catch on? Nahhhh, haha…
@retirebyforty – Just pretend you don’t know what they’re talking about ;)
@Kevin – Oh yeah, car adds are also good stuff. Would do that in a heartbeat as long as I wasn’t advertising erectile dysfunction or anything! haha…
@Alexa – Hmmm… I would hope it’s everything included. Cuz if you’re just starting out and paying like $1800 for interest alone (like someone *ahem*) then it’s not gonna be worth it for the measly $400/month. It’s gotta be all or nothing in my books!
@Carol – WHAT???? Wow. That’s really gotta suck. Guess when you open it up like that you never know what you’re gonna get. Good reality check.
@Yana – Funny what money does to ya, huh ;)
@Hel – I hope she gets picked! Keep us in the loop, okay? :)
@Dan Meyers – Haha, sure. Anything is good w/ the budgets are sexy logo ;) I’ll even pay you $5.00 a month to paint that bad boy on there! haha.. deal?
@Ashley @ Money Talks – that’s cuz we are both awesome ;) you should totally still post it though! we’ll see what your audience thinks about it… looks like most of the ones here are ’bout it, ’bout it.
@Andrea – Ooooooh that seems like a dream house! And only $250/mo? Are you trying to turn me on???? ;)
@Shay – If your parents agreed to this, I would be shocked. But then want to interview them and take pics for my blog! :)
I have signed up. My mort is only 435/month, but that’s no small change to us since the inside is half gutted and the rest will be going that way soon. And the front of our house is so hideous (since we can’t afford to deal with the paint-peeling brick) that I can’t imagine our neighbors would think anything that’s painted on there would look worse than it does now.
Wow! That’s one ugly house! hahaha.
If I had a $10,000/month mortgage, I’d say “sign me up” too!
My husband and I would do it but with the area we live in we probably would not get accepted small town ohio.
I would TOTALLY consider it…okay I would do it (DH probably wouldn’t). I mean, once one person in the neighborhood starts doing it…then EVERYONE will start doing it….like minivans. My only beef is…can I choose my advertiser? Come to think of it…are there by-laws and permits involved in this?
I would jump on this in a heartbeat but our tenants (we have a duplex) probably would not like this idea, nor would my fiance. He would not even let me get ads on the car :(
This isn’t just the HOA’s – most zoning regulations in residential neighborhoods don’t allow signage. Interesting idea but will be a challenge to do almost anywhere unless you live in an unregulated area.
I applied. When I showed my husband, he said, “OMG, that’s awesome!” Turns out he was kidding. I applied anyway… I figure at worst we won’t be selected and at best, it’ll give my husband the chance to decide if he really wants to turn away an easy $2200 each month.
Full disclosure: The lot across the street from my house has been empty and lush and green for years… and is finally up for sale, much to my chagrin. I’m kind of hoping that a big advertisement painted on the house across the street will keep that lovely lot empty for a few more months.
Do you get any say as the home owner as to what ads get painted on your house? If I could pick and choose, I think I’d sign up! Sounds like a great program for people who owe a bunch of money.
@christina h. – Haha, there you go ;) Promise to tell me if you win??
@Lena Fannin – Yeah, I’m sure the home they pick (or homes?) will need to have lots of traffic. Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
@Ruth – Haha, I don’t think you get to choose the advertiser. Although that WOULD be cool! I bet they promote themselves? Adzookie?
@Ginger – Boooooooooooo
@Lori – Boooooooooo again. (haha… good point though)
@Jennifer Lissette – Hahahaa… I bet your husband has a fun time with your feistiness, huh? ;) I wanna know if you get chosen, whether you accept or not!!
@Jenna – Nah, I doubt it. But there’s only one way to find out ;)
awesome sauce…Bahahaha…love it
glad you approve ;)
I have signed up and applied! I’ll let you know if I hear back :)
Rock on! I SO hope someone here gets picked. That would be hot.
When are they going to chose!! I know a great house here in NC that is on abusy street well seen and would so so great for this ad!! They have submitted a alppy!! Now when!!
Cool! I don’t know, but I hope they tell us at some point — I’m excited for someone we know to be picked too!! :)
OMG, tempting… :)
I haven’t seen anyone “win” yet! :)
I wish they pick my daughetrs home she applied for it they live on a busy street in a area just out side a state captail . The city has been on the new for another House written court case this would just be wonderful!! They love the Extra to pay on the home !! Wish they get the deal !!
Awesome! She’s already done step #1, so fingers crossed! Not sure when they’re gonna pick it, if they haven’t already… can’t wait to see how it goes down :)
I REALLY want to do this but:
I am in the UK
I DON`T have a mortgage ?!!
Doesn’t really matter much now anyways, considering this occurred two years ago ;)
I’ll paint my house like that in a minute!
Right? Pretty clever idea.