Joe lived in southern California and called me one day with excitement in his voice! He had just looked at a piece of land in northern California on the internet with the view of a lake and was excited about building a home on it. He wanted to know if I would help him buy it since the price was so good! I told him that I did not recommend he buy a property without looking at it first. Even though it was an hour and half from me, I told him I was happy to go take a look and then give him my feedback, but even if I thought it was a good deal, I thought he should drive up and look at it himself.
The photos on the internet showed a beautiful lake view on 1.5 acres and I was excited for Joe. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the drive very much. I called the seller’s agent on the way to get some more information about the property and to find out the motivation of the seller. He was very friendly, said the seller was motivated and gave me explicit instructions on how to get there.
I drove up a mountain road overlooking the lake and then turned on the street he mentioned and there I saw a “for sale” sign at the intersection, but I didn’t see any property there! I immediately called the seller’s agent and asked, “where is the property?” He replied, “you’re there!” I told him that I didn’t see anything except a cliff that dropped straight down with a narrow road at the bottom where a few lake-front houses stood. He said, “that’s it!” I replied, “the side of a cliff? You could never put a house on this!” He answered, “you’d be surprised what you can do with grading.”
In this case, I’m not convinced that grading was an option – it was that steep.
I had to give Joe a call on the way home to convey the news. He was so disappointed, but I was glad I was there to keep him from buying the side of a cliff!
Send me an email realagentcarla@gmail.com to schedule a call to talk through any of your real estate questions. I’m happy to help!
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