It Was A Mistake

Recently I have become more acquainted with the words, “it was a mistake.”  That phrase struck me as curious when uttered by the seller of real estate I am under contract to purchase.  The seller has breached the contract and that was his phrase.  And I have to agree.

• It was a mistake not to have a title search done or to have purchased title insurance when he purchased the land.  A title search would have disclosed the oil and gas lease.
• It was a mistake to lease/option the property without recording the lease.  There is a procedure and order with real estate.  Everything that affects or could affect chain of title and potential claims against it must be recorded with the County Recorder.
• It was a mistake for the seller to sell land with a right of first refusal vested in someone else.

What has come of all of these “mistakes?”  I am racking up lots of attorney fees, spending a lot of time, losing interest on money that could be in a bank, and facing the potential of having to bring a lawsuit to preserve my right to purchase the real estate, an idea I am loathe to entertain.  In addition my house is cluttered with furnishings that should be moved to that real estate instead of daily tripping me up.  How do I even celebrate Christmas when my Christmas things are under and behind piles of stuff?  A mistake is a something that can be erased, undone; that is not the case here. 

Last night I dreamed that I had won the approval of my teacher, but to show my courage and bravery I plunged into a frigid lake to rescue a floating beach ball even as the wind drove it past me and the current pulled me away from shore.  Sometimes I wonder if the property is worth all the time, trouble, and expense.   

Right now I’m telling myself that if it weren’t me, someone else would have to take this on and suffer as I have.  My comfort is knowing that I am saving someone else all this trouble and expense and that’s my Christmas gift to that unknown person.

Have you ever been in a situation where you were second guessing an earlier decision that seemed so right?  Did you stick with your first instinct or back out?  How did it work out for you?

 

 

Search image By Tall Chris at Flikr.Panyd at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Game board By Lucius Kwok (Own work) [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Gift house By Howard Dickins from Cardiff (Gift House) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons