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One woman received a welcome shock after finding a property worth over $500,000 on land she purchased for just $22,000, though that discovery quickly turned sour after she was sued by a Hawaiian property developer.
The nature of auctions mean that you're sometimes likely to find unknown value in your purchases that the previous owner perhaps passed over, yet we'd be surprised if many bargain buys surpassed this discovery in Hawaii.
We've heard stories of rare-earth goldmines in land bought by keen investors, but one woman managed to turn an innocuous $22,000 one-acre plot of land in Hawaiian Paradise Park into a fortune as she discovered a $500,000 property sat there instead.
As reported by Hawaii News Now, Anne Reynolds purchased the land plot in 2018 but didn't actually decide to do anything with it for many years, waiting instead for the 'right' moment to arrive.
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She was certainly shocked to receive a call from a real estate broker then, as they informed Reynolds that the property on her land - previously unbeknownst to her - had been sold for over $500,000.
This staggering news quickly dissipated into chaos though as she, alongside PJ's Construction and the house's architect, were sued by Keaau Development Partnership who were the local developer that organized the mystery property's existence.
According to Peter Olson, who is representing Keaau Development Partnership in the lawsuit, Reynolds rejected the developer's offer of another lot in the area:
"My client believes she's trying to exploit PJ Construction's mistake," Olson outlines, "in order to get money from my client and the other parties."
You certainly can't blame Reynolds for her persistence though, as that property is by definition on her land and under her ownership, even if it was a mistake.
Reynolds' own lawyer hit back at the claims, arguing that the case "would set a dangerous precedent, if you could go on to someone else's land, build anything you want, and then sue that individual for the value of it."
It does appear to be as much of a mistake as you can imagine something of this scale to be though, as it's explained that many of the neighboring lots are near-identical to each other. It has been revealed by representatives of PJ Construction that Keaau Development didn't want to hire surveyors for the development though, which could be part of the problem.
On top of this, while Reynolds might have owned the land and thus owned the property too, neighboring individuals have claimed that squatters occupied the house prior to its sale, as per Fortune.
An order from a judge has also demanded that Keauu Development Partnership tear down the house in question, ending the saga for good. At least Reynolds will still get to keep her land, house or no house.
