Man accidentally buys strip of grass for £72k thinking it was a house and he can't get a refund

Here's a cautionary tale about reading the small print before you part with your money on an online purchase. VERY IMPORTANT.

Kerville Holness, from Florida, recently came away from an online property auction feeling pretty pleased with himself.

He thought he'd successfully bid £72,000 for a Tamarac villa worth £140,639 in an online auction.

However, he'd not quite got the bargain he'd thought he had. Instead, Holness' £72k had in fact bought him a strip of grass, measuring one foot wide and 100-foot-long.

The rotten cherry on the stale cake? This piece of land was worth just $50.

It sounds like the very definition of a rip-off, yet state law means there's nothing Holness can really do.

It's deception. There was no demarcation to show it's just a line going through the [villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that, Holness said to the Sun Sentinel.

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? he added.

According to Holness, the property appraiser images were linked to the auction site that showed the villa as the item to be bid on.

However, the appraiser's site and information on the county's tax site say that the building had no value and detailed the measurements of the land.

Now, in light of what's happened officials are warning prospective bidders to exercise caution with online property auctions.

The county put a warning on the online auction site on Thursday telling investors to 'do your research' and that 'Tax Deed sales are not for the uninformed.'

He may go to court and find some error in the sale procedure,' real estate attorney Gary Singer said to the paper. 'Generally speaking, he bought what he was supposed to have bought.