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What Bruce Springsteen fan wouldn't want to own the Boss's house?

His New Jersey mansion isn't on the market,

But, until a few weeks ago, this house was.

Bruce grew up in Freehold, N.J., but he rented the cottage at 7 1/2 West End Court, in Long Branch, on the Jersey Shore, in 1974 and '75. It was here that he wrote Born to Run (the song and much of the album of that name). In a 2005 documentary packaged with the 30th anniversary edition of Born to Run, Springsteen stops outside the house to reminisce.

So when the house came on the market, for $299,000, Kim McDermott, a Springsteen fan who lives in nearby Little Falls, and two partners, Gerard Ferrara and Ryan DeCarolis, couldn't resist making an offer. They ended up paying $280,000, which McDermott says is probably "a bit more" than the house would have gone for without the Bruce connection." (Realtor Susan McLaughlin wisely touted the house's rock pedigree on her website.)

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