Any Reasonable Offer is a short story by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...

, first published on 19 January 1952 in in Collier's weekly

Collier's Weekly

Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....

, and later in Bagombo Snuff Box

Bagombo Snuff Box

Bagombo Snuff Box is an assortment of short stories written by Kurt Vonnegut published in 1999. The book contains previously published, but uncollected short fiction that did not appear in Vonnegut's previous collection, Welcome to the Monkey House...

in 1999.

The story is written in first person, from the perspective of a real estate agent in Newport, who tries to sell a large mansion to a Colonel, who tricks him into living in the house and enjoying its hospitality for free. It is revealed that the Colonel and his wife travel around and stay in expensive mansions, tricking real estate agents into believing that they're interested. In the end, without much money, the real estate agent moves out of the city and starts copying the Colonel, staying in mansions for free, tricking other real estate agents into thinking his interested in buying the property.