The Deal

Drudge features a picture of this nice little cabin with the screaming headline "GILDED AGE: THE $155 MILLION HOUSE!"

I thought, "I'll bet that's..." so I clicked through. Sure enough, it's Tim Blixseth, again.

Would you like to know how he got started?

Shortly after his first transaction, he saw an ad from C. H. Berg & Associates, a realtor nicknamed "Click" Berg, advertising 360 acres in Camas Valley, Oregon, for $90,000. He phoned Click Berg and expressed his interest. They got together the next day and drove out to Camas Valley for a meeting with owner, Hayden Taylor, an old logger.

Taylor suggested they tour the property. Click and Blixseth walked through only five acres and concluded they had no idea what the 360 acres were really worth. Blixseth decided to gamble. He walked over to Taylor and said, "I'll take it."

Astonished, Taylor replied: "Young man, have you got 90,000 bucks?"

"No, but I've got $1,000," said Blixseth. "I'll give you the $1,000 now, and the balance in thirty days."

Now flabbergasted, Taylor admonished him. "I'm going to teach you not to gamble with your money," he said, "so I'll take it off the market and sign an earnest money agreement. When you lose your thousand, you'll learn not to gamble."

Blixseth gave Taylor the thousand in cash and drove back with Click. En route to Roseburg, he began to get concerned about why the neighbors hadn't bought it.

When he discovered the Roseburg Lumber Company was the major owner around it, he lost no time visiting the Roseburg Lumber corporate headquarters. "I went up to the front desk," said Blixseth, "and addressed a very prim and proper receptionist with gray hair. She was smartly dressed in a gray suit, and I asked to see Mr. Ford."

"What's your business with him?" she asked.

"I'd like to sell him some land," said Blixseth.

Mr. Ford was unavailable, but his son, Allyn Ford, fresh out of Yale and new on the job, came out to talk. Blixseth made his pitch. Allyn Ford listened intently, asked Blixseth to remain seated, and went back to check the files. Ford returned shortly and asked Blixseth how much he wanted for it.

Surprised by the sudden turn of events, Blixseth's mind raced. He felt if he could profit by $50,000 in cash, he could retire and not work for the rest of his life. The numbers danced in his mind. Payoff a $90,000 debt, add a $50,000 profit—ergo, $140,000.

"The price," said Blixseth, "is $140,000."

"Alright," said Allyn, "we'll take it."

Of course, all this is from an interview, and sometimes the story improves with the telling, but no doubt the basic outline is correct.