How I Lost $415,000 in an on-line home auction (almost)

Wow! About 2 weeks ago, I sent out an email about an on-line home auction here on Hawaii's Big Island ... the house is near a place called Puakea Bay Ranch on 4.4 acres = with a starting bid price of $399,900. This was dramatic since the house had been on market at over $650,000 & had gone to foreclosure. Many of my friends, clients & contacts were pretty excited about the process…and I was helping several to make bids. >>my clients Peggy and Leo were ready to bid—but for some reason the on-line auction site was not accepting their bid. So I went on the auction website—created an account & tried several times to enter a bid—seeing that there was a way to withdraw it later. After several tries—-hoorah! It accepted my bid of $415,000 & proclaimed me the high bidder. How cool! Not so cool—when I went to withdraw the bid, it revealed that the auction company decides if you can withdraw—not you. Five calls later, the VP of the auction house told me that some people put in false bids to mess with the auction results. He claimed that I might be faking a bid—and I might be on the hook for the $415,000. I was stunned--- Do not go there, dude. and after some arm-twisting, I made him see that I was trying to get him Buyers—not committing auction fraud. He finally says “Just this once, I’ll let you off the hook” & agreed to cancel my bid. It’s like going to a party and suddenly you’re in a wrestling match. Another day in the Real Estate Jungle… PS: On a more positive note: Larry & Orange recently finished remodeling at very cool plantation home near Kapaau—if you, your friends or neighbors would like to see a great Kohala home: Check Out the VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/lesforrest#p/u/2/X-SxQkUzhKY