firmbizzle Wrote:Resko and Obama had shady land deals
I've yet to see any proof of this assertion.
1. The deal could have gone down without Rezko.
While it's true that the couple who sold the house to the Obamas and the adjoining vacant lot to Rezko's wife required the deals to close on the same day, there was at least one other serious bidder on the lot.
2. The Obamas did not get a special discount on the house.
Yes, the original asking price was $1.95 million and the sale price was $1.65 million, but the sellers have confirmed that the sale price was the result of routine real estate negotiations and was the best offer they received on the house.
3. The sellers rejected two lower bids from the Obamas.
The Obamas first offered $1.3 million and then $1.5 million before agreeing with the sellers to the $1.65 million price.
4. The Rezkos did not pay an inflated price for the vacant lot.
Obama has said his broker told him another interested party had already put in a bid on the lot at or close to the asking price of $625,000. No one has challenged this assertion.
5. The Obamas did not get a special discount from the Rezkos when they later purchased a one-sixth strip of the vacant lot to enlarge their yard.
The price the Obamas paid, $104,500, was a neat one-sixth of the price of the lot and more than double the value Obama said his appraiser put on the strip. The remaining portion of the vacant lot reportedly sold earlier this year for $675,000.
6. The Obamas did not receive or borrow any money from the Rezkos to buy their house.
They took out a $1.3 million mortgage and paid the balance with proceeds from Obama's best-selling books.