Making crime pay

Competition is cutthroat for home sellers trying to bag that elusive buyer in the battered housing market.

Some spend hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars hiring professional home decorators and staging companies in the hopes of turning an average-looking home into an eye-catching, must-have abode. Enter PropertyRoom.com Inc., a Mission Viejo, Calif., company that offers a seller a way to beautify that diamond-in-the-rough home into a polished gem at a fraction of the cost — and all with the help of local law enforcement agencies.

The company works with more than 1,300 such agencies to auction off a range of art, electronics and jewelry that were stolen, lost or unclaimed by the owners. The items, which include high-quality art, ranging from hand-painted canvas replicas of works by Michelangelo, Van Gogh and Picasso to modern Asian and African art, are sold at heavily discounted prices.

Buyers can pick up a canvas painting for as little as a buck.

Other items, ranging from vases to lawn ornaments, are up for grabs for a home seller wanting to transform the walls and hallways of their drab home into a striking and, most importantly, memorable showcase at a fraction of the price that a professional decorator would charge.

“Most of our auctions start at one dollar, with no reserve,” J.P. Bellomo, chief executive of PropertyRoom.com, said in a statement. “This makes high-end artwork, collectibles and home décor affordable for anyone.”

The company was launched almost 10 years ago by former New York detective Tom Lane. New items are added daily, and auctions times last for as little as an hour to as much as a week.