Sellers be wary

One such sale came in the Black Diamond development last year. Steve and Gina Peters listed their spacious home at 10553 Galleria St. for $549,000 in 2006, as the market weakened. When the house didn't move, they dropped the price to $500,000. The couple finally accepted $490,000 for the house, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

But according to a deed filed with the county, the buyers, Natacha and Isaac Antoine, paid $585,000 in October 2006. They received loans for the full amount, according to mortgage records. In January, they resold the home in the gated community along State Road 7 for the same price to Anthony Champagne, who likewise took out first and second mortgages totaling $585,000. The property now is in foreclosure.

Reached by phone, Natacha Antoine referred questions to her husband. Isaac Antoine couldn't be reached for comment. Neither could Champagne.

Gina Peters said last week that the family had moved to Colorado when the offer came in for their house.

"We sold it from a long distance, so we didn't really have any contact with them," she said.

Peters said she had no reason to be suspicious about the deal.

The Peterses' real estate agent, Patrick Heagney of Realty Associates, acknowledged this month that the terms of the deal seemed odd. The seller agreed to assign the difference between the $490,000 purchase price and the $585,000 loan to the buyer, a $95,000 payday. But, Heagney said, so far as he knows, the arrangement was fully disclosed on the closing documents filed to the lender.

"I said, 'I don't know where you're getting the appraisals from,'" Heagney recalled. "But how can I tell my seller, 'You can't sell it'?"

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