I have Buyer Clients who I showed numerous homes in the Grand Strand area of South and North Carolina.  After several days we found a home that was perfect.  It was listed in the MLS as New Construction but had been used as a model home for about a year.  We made an offer about $20,000 under Asking Price but my Client based his offer on comparable homes, today's market, they were paying cash, and they could close within a week.  The offer was accepted by the Builder / Developer and my Clients returned home to begin transferring money. Several CDs required them to pay penalties but they were happy with the purchase so they gathered the money for closing into their checking account.  Closing was scheduled with the Attorney for tomorrow, November 9th.

Several days ago I receive a call from the Agent who had listed the home that my Clients had purchased.  He said, "There is a problem with the house your Clients have purchased, it was sold a year ago".  I'm thinking what he just said was a joke but he went on to say that the house was listed by mistake when his real estate company took over promotion and sales for the development.  The Builder / Developer had sold the model home a year ago but did a Lease Back Agreement so they could continue to use it as their model home.  I felt sick just thinking about making the call to my Clients because I knew how happy they had been when we received the ratified contract from the Builder / Developer.

My Clients didn't blame me and they have come back into town to begin another search.  They have retained an Attorney and plan to sue the real estate company and the Builder / Developer if they are unable to find another property.

The real estate transaction that I talk about above is, "one for the books", as the saying goes and is turning out, thankfully, to be an unheard of occurrence, at least in the Myrtle Beach area.