topic Re: Dream house built on wrong lot in Community Chat

Dream house built on wrong lot

Say Nay — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:11:34 GMT

Oopsie!

This 5,300-square-foot house along Ocean Ridge Boulevard North in the Ocean Hammock area of Flagler County was built on the wrong lot.

HAMMOCK DUNES — Six months after building a large custom house with an ocean view, Missouri residents Mark and Brenda Voss learned of a big problem – it’s on the wrong lot.

Their three-story vacation rental house with an estimated construction value of $680,000 actually sits on the lot next to the one they own in the gated Ocean Hammock resort community.

“We are in total disbelief, just amazed this could happen,” said Mark Voss, who owns a property management and real estate company in central Missouri. “We may have moved (to Ocean Hammock) someday. But, with this headache and grief, we’re not so sure. The Midwest is looking pretty good right now.”

The Voss’s builder, Keystone Homes, which is based in Ormond Beach but builds primarily in Flagler County, has contacted the two lot owners and other parties and is trying to negotiate a settlement, said Robbie Richmond, company vice president.

“The buck stops with the builder. We know that. We are in the process of trying to schedule a conference call and find a fair resolution without the lawyers,” Richmond said. “I have built about 600 homes in Flagler County and this has never happened to me before. It does happen, but it’s rare.”

The Vosses, who own 18 other residential lots in the Hammock Dunes master-planned community, paid $160,000 for one with a street address of 23 Ocean Ridge Blvd. North in June 2012, according to Flagler County property records. They hired Keystone Homes to design and build a 5,000-square-foot house there to use as a vacation rental managed by Vacation Rental Pros in St. Augustine.

The house has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. It also includes a home theater, game room and screened-in pool.

But the house was mistakenly built on the lot next door, 21 Ocean Ridge Blvd. North.

Andrew Massaro and his wife, Brooke Triplett, of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, bought that lot in 2003 for $355,000. They could not be reached for comment.

The builder and Voss each say the error can be traced to the first survey in 2013. East Coast Land Surveying in Ormond Beach misplaced stakes, and the foundation survey and other documents and building activity were based on the error. During construction, dozens of subcontractors arrived each day to work at the wrong lot. And a final survey failed to note the error...

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

tansy — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:20:13 GMT

Oh no. Did the article mention if one lot was more desirable than the other?

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

scotttie — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:23:03 GMT

doh!

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

jackthebear — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:25:44 GMT

ruh roh

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

RainyDayGal — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:26:26 GMT

Looking at the map, the lots look pretty comparable (what I could see). I'd prefer it to be on the one it's built - there's more trees behind it.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

Marianne1 — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:27:53 GMT

I guess the owners never checked on the progress of the build?

Or some permit or inspection company did not catch the error?

Or the land owners never noticed a house on their land?

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

madcity411 — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:29:44 GMT

OOPS!

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

MaRina — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:30:33 GMT

Better luck next time!!!

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

croemer — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:30:48 GMT

Whoa what would be a fair resolution? I mean what if you bought that lot...hadn't been there for awhile but wanted this as the future site of your home?

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

Qwackertoo — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:37:50 GMT

Hopefully the lot owners will swap lots and maybe an extra 100K from the builder for their trouble and not hold out for a crazy amount . . . over and above the difference in paid amounts . . .good luck to them all in settling it.

I can't imagine building an almost 700K house and not flying to the location and checking it even once during construction. But that is just me. I'd have been checking monthly or have someone checking for me . . . but probably me or husband or both of us.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

millieshops — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:58:57 GMT

And the builder will sue the survey company for misplacing the stakes and.....

Wonder why one lot was worth double the price of the other?

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

depglass — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 00:01:30 GMT

First world problem.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

Say Nay — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 00:01:51 GMT

I was wondering about the price difference also. Seems strange but it's hard to tell from the one photo in the article any details about the property.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

tansy — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 00:04:40 GMT

On 10/14/2014 millieshops said:
And the builder will sue the survey company for misplacing the stakes and.....

Wonder why one lot was worth double the price of the other?

Just differences in what the RE market was in those years I'd guess.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

occasionalrain — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 04:45:30 GMT

A lot depends on the owners of the lot where the house is located. If they love the house, they could get it for a really good price. Otherwise, they could demand the house be removed which would cost at least 200k.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

Cookie06 — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:13:40 GMT

Remember in 2003 housing and lots were skyrocketing!!! By 2012 the bottom had dropped out of real estate and was coming back, but not enough. I guess the guys that paid too much for their lot are in luck now that they have the upper hand with being the owners of that beautiful house!!!

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

occasionalrain — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:41:05 GMT

On 10/14/2014 Cookie06 said:
Remember in 2003 housing and lots were skyrocketing!!! By 2012 the bottom had dropped out of real estate and was coming back, but not enough. I guess the guys that paid too much for their lot are in luck now that they have the upper hand with being the owners of that beautiful house!!!

I'm not up on Florida law but in my state you wouldn't own the house because it was mistakenly built on your property. You do have the right to make them remove it so, of course you would be in a strong position to bargain.

That the lot owner bought it in 2003 and hasn't built on it makes me think it was probably bought either as an investment or that their has been a change in their lives that has prevented then from building. So, this mistake may be a wonderful gift from heaven for them. They can charge whatever they want for the lot, or bargain for the house that's been built on it, or demand that the house be removed. What they can't do is take ownership of it unless Florida law is different from the law in my state.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

brii — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 11:49:30 GMT

Hope the builder and the survey people have good lawyers.

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

shesallthat — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:15:11 GMT

On 10/14/2014 occasional rain said:
On 10/14/2014 Cookie06 said:
Remember in 2003 housing and lots were skyrocketing!!! By 2012 the bottom had dropped out of real estate and was coming back, but not enough. I guess the guys that paid too much for their lot are in luck now that they have the upper hand with being the owners of that beautiful house!!!

I'm not up on Florida law but in my state you wouldn't own the house because it was mistakenly built on your property. You do have the right to make them remove it so, of course you would be in a strong position to bargain.

That the lot owner bought it in 2003 and hasn't built on it makes me think it was probably bought either as an investment or that their has been a change in their lives that has prevented then from building. So, this mistake may be a wonderful gift from heaven for them. They can charge whatever they want for the lot, or bargain for the house that's been built on it, or demand that the house be removed. What they can't do is take ownership of it unless Florida law is different from the law in my state.

i saw this on yahoo earlier.

sounds like investment - they own 18 other lots in the same community!

Re: Dream house built on wrong lot

Mominohio — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:26:08 GMT

Big difference in the purchase prices of the two lots, and the house is on the one that cost (at the time) much more. That may prove to be a problem if they decide to swap lots. One was purchased before the housing market down turn at a much higher price, the other afterward, at a much cheaper price. Don't know if the lots are similar, but I can see the swap needing to be supplemented with some cash to make the actual lot owners happy.