I don't remember how much I paid exactly but I do remember it was a steal. A few years ago I was building a new house and needed all new appliances. After scouring Craigslist for a few weeks I saw a post that was almost too good to be true. A full set of stainless steel high end appliances for a song. So I quickly grabbed my wife, a trailer, and an appliance dolly. The toolbox was already in the truck.
I pull up to the address and find a for sale sign in the front yard. I knock on the door and am greeted by a rather, let's say, disheveled looking fellow. He invites me into "his" rather nice, large, and expensive home and proceeds to show me the appliances. They were perfect and the wife liked them. They were all still installed and working so very easy to inspect. So I proceed to negotiate as any good Craigslister would. I am surprised at how easily I am able to negotiate my price but I am even more surprised at what comes next. No sooner than we agree on a price the doorbell rings. It's his next Craigslist client. They have come to look at the chandeliers in the house. So there I am, in a strangers house, removing the dishwasher, refrigerator, stove, and microwave while he is off discussing selling all the lights in the house when it hits me. Does this guy really own this house?
I mean, what if this guy gained access to a house for sale and started selling off everything he could? Am I in the middle of some scam? What do I do? At this point I have the stove out, the frig out, and I've taken down the microwave. I'm caught red handed, but all I have left is the dishwasher and I'm out of there. What do I do? I'm nervous. I'd like to think the sweat on my brow was from working hard but really I was sweating the situation.
My conscience gets the best of me and I send my wife out to the truck and instruct her to call the real estate agent whose name is on the sign out front and get the scoop on this situation ASAP.
It turns out that the guy lost his job, got divorced, and was on the verge of having the house foreclosed on. He was just trying to get all the money he could out of it before the foreclosure. The real estate agent was not very happy to find out what was taking place. I can't say I blame her. Would you want a listing for a house missing all the lights, appliances, and presumably soon to be missing doors, windows, flooring, HVAC equipment and who knows what else?
Oh well....nothing illegal about the situation so I finish removing his dishwasher, piling all his food from the frig on the back porch (It was about 35 degrees that day so why not put it outside), and high tail it out of there.
Whewww....the stuff we endure for our Craigslist adventures. Yeah, I'd do it again.