To: GraceZ who wrote (1616 ) 3/18/2001 12:51:04 PM From: Ilaine Read Replies (1) | Respond to Without looking at anything more than the story you linked, I am going to make a guess as to what really happened and then you can tell me if I am right or I can look it up if you don't know. The houses in question must be in an inner city black neighborhood. They were not maintained and deteriorated. They were sold at tax sales or foreclosure sales to the people who flipped them. The flippers came in and fixed them up and then sold them for much higher prices. The people who bought them from the flippers were given special no money down loans, or loans that required extremely low down payments like $1000 or $2000 so they have zero equity, and if they sell after paying the agent they'll owe money to the bank. The purchasers are financially unsophisticated. They are used to having landlords fix things that break, don't know how to do it themselves, and can't afford to pay a repairman. The houses are really in crappy condition and they didn't bother to have a home inspection or a home inspection clause in the contract. They bought a pig in a poke and now they are screaming when it's too late to back out of the deal.
