Reply #3: Sorry, but the article leaves out some major facts. [View All]

[pnwmom]

Lots of houses go for lower than the asking price. The house that Obama bought had been on the market for several months and the only other offer was LOWER than Obama's.

On the other hand, the adjoining vacant lot had another offer that was just below what Rezko offered -- so Rezko had to offer more than the other potential purchaser in order to get the property.

When Obama offered to buy a strip of land from Rezko, the appraiser, using the usual formula, named a value that was LOWER than what Obama decided to offer. Obama offered more -- he offered to pay 1/6 of the purchase price that Rezko had paid, since the strip Obama wanted was 1/6 of the property.

To sum up, the house Obama bought was originally over-priced, or SOMEONE would have come along in the several months and met the price. The only other offer was less than what Obama offered. The vacant lot attracted an offer from a neutral party that had to be beaten by Rezko in order for him to purchase the property. And Obama could have relied on the appraiser's estimate to make an offer for the property, but instead he offered to pay based on a simple pro-rata share of Rezko's purchase price.