How Apple helped one couple boost the value of their home from $US6,000 to $US1.75m

A North Carolina couple has sold their house to tech giant Apple for $US1.75 million after the company said it needed the land for its new data centre.

The massive 500,000 square foot centre is being designed, some analysts say, in order to house Apple’s servers for streaming entertainment via its iOS devices including iPhones, iPods, iPads and the new Apple TV.

The billion-dollar development is being constructed in the small town of Maiden, North Carolina, situated a short drive away from the town of 3,000 people. However, Donne and Kathy Fulbright owned one acre near the site – an acre that Apple needed to complete its construction.

While the Fulbrights said they had no intention of moving, a round of negotiations finally ended in a $US1.75 million selling price. And the sale represents a massive profit for the couple – they originally purchased the house for $US6,000.

“They told us to put a price on it and we did,” Kathy Fulbright told Bloomberg. The pair has put the money to good use, purchasing a 4,200 square foot home on a 49-acre property nearby.

While the sale price may seem over-the-top, the North Carolina data centre is a crucial project for Apple. Analysts say the company has far exceeded its reach and will need to expand to keep its web-hosted services running smoothly.

Gartner analyst David Cappuccio also told Bloomberg that Apple will need to complete the centre as its user base grows and the iOS becomes more widespread on new devices.

“Apple’s growth has been pretty dramatic and they have probably exceeded their capacity,” he said. “Between iTunes and the video store they are going to have, you’re talking about massive amounts of data and millions of people trying to access that at the same time.”

Gene Munster, the Piper Jaffray analyst who was among the first to predict the release of the iPad, says the centre is being used for streaming services and a project that will eventually see users stream music over the internet, rather than downloading it.