We’ve all woken up in the morning and come to the horrifying realization that we’ve bought yet another stupid online purchase.
For most of us, those ridiculous purchases are usually random everyday items, like inflatable flamingos (when we don’t own pools), or a miniature trampoline for a dog. However, for Kerville Holness, his $9,000 purchase ended up being a tiny strip of grass.
Holness, who’s from Florida, felt pretty pleased with himself following an online property auction, as he thought he’d just bought himself a Tamarac villa, which is estimated to be worth around $177,100, for only $9,100.
Unfortunately for Holness, in the morning he realized his error: his $9,100 had only bough him a measly strip of grass measuring one foot wide, and a hundred feet long.
And the rotten cherry atop his s**t sundae? His tiny chunk of land was actually only worth $50.
According to Holness, the mistake occurred after the property appraiser images linked to the auction site, showing the villa as the item to bid on.
However, the appraiser’s site, as well as information on the county’s tax site, say the building has no value and detailed the land’s measurements. According to state law, there is nothing that Holness can do to fix the blunder and get his money back.
Holness spoke to the Sun Sentinel to express his anger, calling the auction, “deceptive.”
“It’s deception. There was no demarcation to show it’s just a line going through the [villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that. If I’m vindictive enough, I can cut right through the garage wall and the home to get to my air space, but what use would that be to me?” Holness claimed.
Following the costly incident coming to light, Gary Singer, a real estate attorney, cautioned other investors to “do their research” as “Tax Deed sales are not for the uninformed.”
“He may go to court and find some error in the sale procedure,” Singer told the Sun Sentinel. “Generally speaking, he bought what he was supposed to have bought.”
So it looks like the Florida man is stuck with a random strip of grass – let this serve as a cautionary tale to online shoppers – always read the fine print before you click buy.
