Unfortunately for Kerville Holness, his villa turned out to be a strip of land, measuring 30cm by 30m.

It’s only worth $72 (USD$50).

The strip runs down the driveway of two adjoining villas, and extends under the mutual wall separating the properties.

Adding insult to injury, officials say there’s not much he can do about it.

 “If I’m vindictive enough, I can cut right through the garage wall and the home to get to my air space, but what use would that be to me?” Holness said told the Sun Sentinel.

“It’s deception.

“There was no demarcation to show you it’s just a line going through [the villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that.”

Holness said the property appraiser photos linked to the auction site shows a villa being on the parcel he made a bid on.

But the newspaper says the appraiser’s site and information on the county’s tax site show no building value.