A South Florida Man thought he had hit the jackpot when his $13,000 bid on what he thought was an online auction for a villa, but it turns out he grossly overpaid for a 30cm by 3m strip of land worth $50.

Kerville Holness, a first-time auction bidder, couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that his $9,100 bid for a villa in South Florida’s Spring Lake community had been declared the winner. However, everything came crashing down when he learned that what he thought was the bargain of a lifetime turned out to be a cruel joke. It turns out poor Kerville overaid for a narrow strip of land that starts on a curb and goes under a wall separating two villas and then out to the back of the lot. Although the appraiser’s site and information on the county’s tax site states that the land has no building values, the buyer claims that the photos used on the auction site were deceptive.

Photo: Google

“It’s deception,” a disgruntled Holness told the Sun Sentinel. “There was no demarcation to show you it’s just a line going through [the villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that.”

“If I’m vindictive enough, I can cut right through the garage wall and the home to get to my air space, but what use would that be to me?” the buyer added.

Unfortunately, because there was information available online that showed the land had no building value, experts say that there is not a lot Holness can do at this point. However, he insists that the property appraiser photos linked to the auction site clearly show a villa on the piece of land he made a bid on. To be fair, not even local officials know why the narrow strip was never attached to either of the adjoining properties.

Photo: Google

For now, Kerville Holness is stuck with a patch of land worth about $50, and $9,100 less in his bank account. To make matters worse, county laws reportedly do not allow refunds. Ouch!