It was group hug time Friday afternoon when we received confirmation that our 10-month short sale ordeal in Encinitas Ranch had successfully recorded and closed.

Kudos to the patient buyers of this Encinitas home, because they truly got a terrific deal ($890,000).

Welcome relief is also due the out of area young seller, who had been unwittingly pulled into a raunchy real estate transaction by a couple of sleazy mortgage brokers (one of whom was the seller) , a credit “packager” –and escrow, title and appraisal personnel who surely knew better than to facilitate such a sham.

Our first time home buyer-turned-seller from Los Angeles, with excellent FICO score (and no savings), was lured by the promise of buying an “undervalued” $1.2 million home (100 percent financing) in San Diego that he could profitably sell 6 months later–while someone else made the payments. It was to be his stepping stone to riches.  Or so he thought.

Instead, it turned into 16-month nightmare:

Continued....