She knew she should have ordered a surveyor’s report, but the retired police officer is now facing financial ruin after buying what she thought was her dream home at auction, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Sue Diamond paid £154,000 for her idyllic seaside home, just a week before it was left teetering on a cliff edge by landslide. The house now sits just 50 yards away from a sheer drop into the sea and she is now locked in a legal battle with the property’s seller after refusing to pay after the auction.
The ex-police officer, who is disabled, made a telephone bid of £154,500 for the house in Torquay in February 2010, without viewing it or having a survey done.
Miss Diamond says the house is now uninhabitable and worth only £3,500 despite the builder who sold it to her, pursuing her for the whole amount owed.
The auction particulars warned buyers that the six-bedroom house was severely structurally damaged and might be beyond economic repair, and a judge in 2010 ordered Miss Diamond to pay Mr Taylor what she owed.