A homeless man offers to buy a $350K condo, then goes missing
CBC News
By Kelly Bennett
28 July 2015
A condo
sale at the Stinson School fell through when the buyer failed to
transfer the money for several days after he'd said he needed to move
in. He was reported missing soon after. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)
When Simon Gron heard from his realtor that someone wanted to buy his
condo at the Stinson School, he jumped. The buyer was willing to pay
$350,000 for the unit, but had a caveat:
He needed to move in within days.
Gron didn't get the best vibe from the buyer when he knocked on the door for a quick tour with Gron's realtor, Harry Stinson.
"He sort of had a glazed-over look," Gron said. "He didn't look to me to be cleaned up."
But Gron brushed his sense aside. He'd only met him for a few minutes
while he took a look around the apartment, after all. And he'd heard
from Stinson the buyer was providing financial details to a lawyer
involved and getting ready for paperwork-signing. For his part, Stinson
thought the buyer "came across as very credible — very convincing and
credible."
"Maybe it's just some old guy," Gron said he thought. "The story was
that he'd sold his house, that he had cash. Maybe it's just an
eccentric older guy who just wants to buy a place."
A complete soap opera
Gron signed his end of the paperwork, and he and his girlfriend packed
up their belongings in the span of four days. They moved into an
apartment in the building while they waited to close the house they've
bought.
Except when the swift closing date came, when the buyer's $350,000 in
cash was supposed to be transferred to the lawyer, the money didn't
come. Phone calls started flying.
The buyer had a "series of excuses," Stinson said, including medical
reasons why he couldn't get the money transferred. They pushed back the
closing date.
"When a person is supposedly under the knife, you give him an hour or
two," said Stinson, who converted the historic school to condo lofts a
few years ago.
But the days passed. Nothing from the buyer.
Bruce Paton
Bruce Paton was
missing for several days before being found "safe" and out of town "by
choice," Hamilton Police say. (Kelly Bennett/CBC)
Then last Tuesday, Gron's girlfriend saw a photo in the news of the guy
who was supposed to buy their condo. Bruce Paton, 74, had been missing
for a few days. Earlier in the year, he'd been staying at the Good
Shepherd men's shelter. Paton was even interviewed by volunteers with
the 20,000 Homes campaign, which aims to house the chronically
homeless.
Gron was flabbergasted.
"Out of all the people in Hamilton, I think I'm the first to sell my place to a homeless man," Gron said.
Stinson was stressed, too.
"This went from being a swift, elegant transaction with credible people
to being a complete soap opera in the span of 48 hours," Stinson said.
'We haven't had the chance yet to sit down and talk'
Now things have settled down, somewhat. Stinson found another buyer for
the condo, and if he hadn't, he told Gron he'd buy it himself. Gron can
go ahead and close on his next house.
"All is on track now," Gron said Monday. "What a relief!"
And over the weekend, police found Paton. He's safe, and is out of town
"by choice", said Hamilton Police spokesman Det. Const. Mike Hall.
Paton's partner of 18 years, Heather Moore, said she heard from Paton
over the weekend. He told her he'd gone to London to try to work out
some financial headaches with his pension.
She said she didn't have any comment on the saga of the condo deal.
"We haven't had the chance yet to sit down and talk," she said.
There are a lot of confusing details left.
"We don't know to this day if it was [Paton's] intention to close, if
he had any money," Stinson said. "It was about three to four days that
this whole thing went from legitimate to weird."
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