In our county, there needed to be a perk test before it could change hands; therefore a house was blocked out on the lot. One acre and the house was set to be only 10 feet from our property line. It is mostly ravine, but the house would have been right next to us.

The owner had purchased 2 other lots when he built his house in the 60's during a building peak when the lots were high and the POA's were low. When his wife passed away, he sold the house and combined them a few years back, but was asking triple what we paid for our lot.

A year ago, I called and offered around double, but he turned me down. My dad's inheritance came in last December, but I didn't think he was ready to deal. When we visited our lot last month the property manager said he was desperate.

So I called today and made a cash offer for about the same as we paid for our lot. (Another lot nearby sold for that price.) And he accepted if we could close in two weeks. Our lawyer is on it like white on rice. It's not that it will have usable space on it, but our house will be on 1 1/2 acres and it will prevent a very close neighbor!