Suit or Walk Away?

In reviewing your first list of 9, the only one that might be in your favor

should you decide to take this to litigation, is #1 - which stated that it

was supposed to have a pond. Was THIS listed in the contract or strictly

verbal? I'm guessing the latter, but if indeed the former, than you might

(noticed the word 'might') have a chance at recovering some of the costs

in excavating that "new" pond. Make sure that you get signed depositions

from the dozer guy attesting to the fact there were no pond(s) in or on the

property prior to his doing the work to create one. The remainder of your

list is going to be the tough pill to swallow, but as others have already

pointed out, due diligence was up to you and the remainder of the property

was sold "as is". Regarding your three possibilities on what to do with the

place. You started out with a warped conception of "if" you win . . . what

you'd be doing with the proceeds. As the one bringing the suit, the burden

of proof is entirely on you . . . frivolous lawsuits ONLY work out in

divorce cases in no-fault states and the attorneys!!!

Best scenerio in this case is to hold on to the property and take it in small

and easy to manage steps in the clean-up process. Divide it into one acre

increments . . . clean that portion as completely as possible and then move

on to the next and so on and so forth - before you know it, the place

will be done and worth every penny spent! Just don't let it overwhelm

you with trying to choke down the entire enchilada all at once!

As is, means buyer beware. You get what you pay for, make sure uts what you want before you pay.

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http://thegreatfallarizona.blogspot.com/

http://argentallc.wordpress.com/

I would continue to clean up the property and perhaps enlist someone to help for a share of the scrap. Goats don't need that much land, fence one acre, let the goats eat the briars and brambles (get you some yard goats/weed goats, not dairy type goats) and fence the perimeter and turn them loose. They will eat all the blackberries, etc. they can hold and then some. (at the same time, they will uncover a lot of the junk you need to clean up).

It sounds like you are discouraged and letting someone else's dishonesty keep you from enjoying the place you have. If you got the place at a "bargain" price, one of the reasons was that it needed a lot of work.

You may not get enough out of the place to replace the "seed" money you started with. You said you have built a cabin and a pond, well you are halfway there to getting what you wanted to begin with. Realistically, you may not find another place at the same price that would be any better than what you already have.

But if it really is more than you can stand, then by all means put it up for sale and try to recover your money. Buying "as is" means exactly that..as it sits and where it sits. Only way I know you could recover your money and give the place back is if there was a toxic waste dump there that was undisclosed (then you would have to prove the seller knew it was there) or something similar.

Doesn't sound like you have a suit against the seller or the realtor, but I am sure an aspiring ambulance chaser would probably take the case. Doesn't mean you would win, but you might recover some money in damages if you could prove that a "pond" was there. Sounds like it might have been a wet weather pond and after the drought, it disappeared.

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

If you have this ad, you could file a claim against the real estate agent's Errors and Omissions insurance policy.

The agents broker is required to give you the contact information on how to file a claim. You should be able to at least get the costs of building the new pond back.

With the sale being as-is the only things you can recover are things that are in writing that are not true.

Thanks ya'll. Yeah, I'm discouraged and tired. I have a nice cabin but not much else I can do presently and that is one of the motivators for posting this and asking advice.

Sidepasser the land was not a bargain. I thought the price was fair but in hindsight I don't think it was.I have already cleared the blackberry and uncovered the property boundaries. I like the idea of letting someone dump concrete into that chasm though. I was thinking of getting rip rap in the future, for the same purpose. Concrete would allow the water to push through but would top off and level that land for livestock and put the junk pile far down beneath tons of weight so that it will eventually decompose. Only thing is that it is not accessible by dump truck - the load would have to be dumped in front and taken there by dozer or bucket. I doubt anyone wants the extra expense of bring a dozer to put the concrete in the hole. They probably prefer just to dump it and run but I'll try to see if someone will do this. I also think that I might have gotten permanently discouraged here. I'm not one for sueing. As I mentioned in the first post I don't know anything about it was just asking.

Scrap here is 10 cents per 100 pounds on a good day. I gave some young men the opportunity to haul it off and keep all the money but it is hard to find people with the initiative to work like that here. For some reasons everyone wants work but they don't actually want to do any of it for the pay off. I've had several people through here that were eager for cash but not for work. I don't want to do that again. Its a huge waste. I ended up doing the fence by myself and will finish this winter by myself.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

I bought a lot with a similar situation but on a much smaller scale. Instead of mobile homes it was one house which had been burned and bulldozed. And mine is only 1/2 acre. 15 years later I am still picking up trash and considering removing the old foundation. The only advice I can give is to keep plugging along as you get the time and money. If there is metal in the dump you might be able to get someone to clean it up for the scrap. If you find a cache of old intact glass bottles try to sell them.

We were quite fortunate that the township this property is located in does a township clean-up every so often. We took the mountain of tractor tires (???? tractor tires, WHY??? There are no large tillable areas for a few miles!) to the township clean-up and were able to get rid of them for free.

Just read the part you posted about the scrap prices. That isn't good. Must be why we don't have the trash pickers out here like we used to.

hmm.... nah. i guess its not worth it. but thanks for letting me know of this insurance.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

If you got it cheap, then just chalk it up to a bad decision.

I might go after them for the lack of the pond, though. How did the seller know the pond was there if he never walked the place, btw? If you could get the cost of the dug pond back it might go aways towards feeling better about things. It would be a shame if you had a bad taste in your mouth over the place even after you get it fixed up.

Congratulations on working so hard to clean the place up, though. Even if you get out of there, you've made it a lot better for the land and those who will come after you.

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-Northern NYS

Oh dear, I have no idea of what the best future course could be for you. I do know that when we bought our place in Montana there had been a couple of old homesteads there in days gone by. We hauled for a dozen truck loads of trash, old stoves, bedsteds etc. We continue to find stuff the whole time we lived there. At one point we decided to thin and clean up five acres near the house. It took the three of us six months of work but it looked like a park when it got done. Then the beetles killed the trees and it looked sad. It does not matter if you clean it up or leave it a mess. You have a safe home it sounds like, on land you promised to care for. That is so much more than so many others have right now. May you be blessed with many years of discovery! blessings, sis

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www.MontanaSticksAndStones.com at Goshen Farm

yeah, i'm not feeling good here.... maybe winter will cure the dis-ease. thanks for the perspective.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

There is life after a real estate flop. Truly.

Don't despair.

There is a difference between buying as is and having problems deliberately covered up. It could be that you can get someting back simply by growing like an angry dog and waiving some regulations at them. If your demands are modest, they may just give you something to avoid problems themselves. Depends on their personalities and whether they have a guilty conscience.
I would at least ask an attorney for a consultation before giving up.
In our State there are disclosure requirement. If you are aware of a problem, you are required to say in the closing documents. If he brush hogged, he knew.

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For we used to ask when we were little, thinking that the old men knew all things which are on earth: yet forsooth they did not know; but we do not contradict them, for neither do we know.

By the time you get discouraged, you are almost through with the hardest part of anything and, just can't see it yet. Keep at it. Take a break from it. You may get hungry for it while you are away. Take stock.

I've seen people move here and either rent or buy something that is known to have problems. I have no idea what the folks were told. I know what happened. If you're also up against the "You're not from around here syndrome." it'll make it tougher to do anything through the courts.

Any lawyer taking your case will likely want money up front unless they see a hefty 30% possible from errors and omissions. Good luck. Don't let it get you down.

A harley rake and a couple loads of topsoil might make things look a lot better. Scrap should be more than that. It is around here. Call around.

Thanks ya'll. Your responses have really touched my heart. The thought that the seller did know and deliberately hid what he knew fires me up sometimes. And not seeing the forest for the trees maybe and definietly, a lot hs been done already and done well.... very grateful for the freindliness, helps me see that i've really toughened up beyond reason. i need to relax a bit. Very grateful. Thank you.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

I was just looking at some of my earlier posts on this property and realize i wasn't discouraged until after i found the crater with junk.... until then i kept thinking it was okay.

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

In that case if you can turn the crater of junk to your advantage then you can be back on track for enjoying the place you have. Don't let one percieved disadvantage remove all of the known advantages. "lemonaide from lemons" right??

yeah.... i think maybe i was unloading more into the frustrations than the deception. it has been a tough year.... getting carried away. thanks. had i realized how many lemons i had i could have used one on my carrot salad yesterday

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Tiny Forest ~ my tiny blog

Turn the crater into a pond and move on.

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Mortgage Underwriters