[71SportRagtop]

Money can really bring out the worst in people, including friends and family. I let the property sell and be done with it. I speak from experience.

Back in 1995 my good friend and I were fishing in the Pocono mountains of PA. We got to talking about possibly buying a place up there instead of always renting crappy hotel rooms whenever we went up to go fishing or skiing.

Long story short in 1996 we purchased a small home in a real nice area. We were super close to 3 major ski resorts, plus there are 2 really nice fishing lakes in our development. We bought the house and for years it was a ski, fishing, and party house for us and all our buddies....that house can really tell some stories!

Anyway, in late 1998 my buddy was accepted into the PA State Police. After initial training, he was stationed out by York PA which was about 3 hours from our home. Since it was a long ride and he was working all kinds of different shifts as a new State Trooper, he decided that he wanted out of our vacation home and he offered me the chance to buy him out. I loved the house and the area and decided to go for it.

We decided together that the fairest way to place a value on the house was to have 3 seperate appraisals done and then average them out, then we would divide that value between us and I'd see if I could afford to buy him out or not. So I paid for one appraisal, he paid for one, and we split the 3rd.

We took the 3 appraisals, averaged them out and split that value in half. Turns out that value was about $10K shy of what he thought it should be. I won't bore you guys with all the gory details but it got heated, nasty, and ended up ending a 25 year friendship.

In the end my fiancée (now wife) and I bought the home from him. It was REALLY tight for us for several years because as this was all going down we were also planning a wedding, a honeymoon, and buying a primary home for us to live in after we got married. I. The end it all worked out. We now only have 3 years left on the vacation home mortgage and we use it a lot. We constantly have friends and family up there and I wouldn't trade it for the world. But still in the end I lost a good friend out of it.