Buying property — as easy as buying a piece of heaven Part 3

Lot for sale

My husband decided to go and visit Don R and see if there still was a lien on the lots. Don R said that yes, in fact, he was thinking of contacting us to see if we were still interested in buying. Apparently, C’s girlfriend had come to his house to try and renegotiate the repayment schedule but had insulted Don R’s wife and was in danger of defaulting. Only, the thing was, Don R had developed cataracts and been left blind. He had given his son all his current outstanding loans until such time as he had an operation to improve his vision. He sent my husband to the son with the idea that we could purchase the contract.

So my husband went to see the son. The son said that yes, he had the papers transferring ownership from G to C’s girlfriend and that she had until December to repay the loan. To date, she had only paid $3,000 of the $20,000 loan and interest was accumulating. My husband said he would be willing to make good on the loan, $20,000 plus interest, provided the lot that was next to us became ours. The lot behind it, which was also part of the lien, he would give to C’s girlfriend. So basically, C’s girlfriend would be out of debt and still have one lot to sell or do whatever she wanted with.

The son thought it might be a good deal and made arrangements to contact C’s girlfriend and set up a meeting. Meanwhile, I talked to my sister-in-law T about the deal. I explained the drawbacks and benefits to her and asked if she would go with my husband to the meeting. I knew I couldn’t go and not lose my temper and my husband would need someone there to make sure he didn’t just agree to any old deal. I told her that if we could get the lot for $20,000 or thereabouts, to close the deal, but if it was to be higher than that, no deal.

The meeting was set up a few days later and off they went. They were gone more than 2 hours. They came back without the lot. It seems the girlfriend was not interested in selling less than $45,000, which we weren’t interested in paying. She went on and on about how she wanted to sell in La Yacata because of the mala fama (bad reputation) it had and lack of water, sewer, and electricity. (You can lead a horse to water.) She talked about this as if this would convince my husband to buy the property at the price she wanted. Never mind that he was fully aware of the problems, and enumerated several others with the lot. For instance, not only was there no water, sewer, or electricity, the lot had an outstanding debt of $250 for lawyer’s fees. That lot also had never made a payment for sidewalks, road paving or the pozo (never mind that the pozo was a fraud perpetrated by Chuchi—See Demanda 3). Therefore, the lot did not have a value of the $45,000 she was asking.

C’s girlfriend concluded the meeting by saying that she already had a buyer that was willing to pay $45,000 in payments and that we should take her offer immediately so as not to lose out. That is the type of pressure my husband caves under, but T took hold of his elbow and walked him out.

C’s girlfriend then turned her attention to Don R’s son. My sister-in-law said there were some sparks flying between the two when they took their leave. Perhaps she offered the son some incentive to renegotiate the repayment schedule with her, for whatever it was worth. The lien can not be canceled, nor the lots sold, without the written permission of Don R, blind or not. The son even said as much during the meeting.

And as for this supposed buyer….no shit, Sherlock!  That would be our aborted negotiation with C. The girlfriend didn’t know my husband personally and I had sent T instead of going myself since I am all too readily identifiable. Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the conversation between C and his girlfriend after the meeting!

So, disappointed, we have decided to wait it out. There is still a possibility that in December, the girlfriend will default and the lot will come up for sale. It seems a lame ending to this saga, but whoever said buying a piece of heaven was easy?

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