An unusual real estate deal in Australia has one broker purring.
According to the Herald Sun, the Perceval family of Glen Iris, Australia, auctioned their five-bedroom home on Saturday, with bidding topping out at $2,060,000 Australian dollars (nearly $1.42 million USD). But when broker Glen Coutinho started negotiating with bidders, one revealed that his child had noticed the Percevals' cat Tiffany during home inspections, and was smitten. The bidder upped his offer by $140,000 to $2.2 million Australian dollars — nearly $100,000 USD more — on one condition.
"The buyer wouldn't sign the contract unless he got the cat, so as far as I'm concerned, he can have the cat," Coutinho told the Herald Sun.
The boost in property price may have been the cat's meow for Coutinho, but the choice wasn't quite as easy for the Percevals.
"It is actually a difficult decision. She's a beautiful cat, but what could we say?" Fran Perceval, standing with her husband Mark by the "SOLD" sign outside of their house and clutching 4-year-old Tiffany, told the Herald Sun. "I think she's the most expensive cat in Glen Iris at the moment, probably Australia, maybe."
Fur has been flying with the Percevals' son Sam, 19, who has loved Tiffany ever since he picked her out from a pet shop where she was the last of the litter. His mother has a solution, though.
“We’re thinking we’ll put $20,000 in a pile next to the cat and say to Sam: You choose,” she told the Herald Sun.
Under terms of the sale, Tiffany — who the Percevals say sat on their couch as potential buyers toured their home, accepting pats now and then — will live with the new family in her old house. The Percevals will keep their other pets, which include two dogs, two rabbits, and fish, the Herald Sun said.
It's the first time Coutinho has had a cat clause in a sale. "We haven't put a contract like that with a condition in it," he said.
