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For Realtors, Some Contracts Are As Good As Gold

Sarasota Herald Tribune file photo

The South African Krugerrand is 22-karat gold, containing a trace amount of copper alloy for durability.

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By TOM BAYLES

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: May 22, 2008

SARASOTA - Realtors will tell you that nearly anything both parties agree to can be written into a residential purchase contract.

On Monday, Realtor Kim Ogilvie closed a deal with a very interesting twist.

A golden one to be exact.

The buyer of a downtown Sarasota residence that sold for more than $1 million brought a briefcase filled with $400,000 worth of South African Krugerrands to the closing -- that is about 444 of the gold coins. A foreign coin expert was at the closing and verified the coins' authenticity and weight.

"This was a first," Ogilvie acknowledged, adding in Realtor fashion: "It really shows you the depth to which buyers will go to use their resources to acquire properties they think are well-priced."

Despite the big push by Realtors regionwide for international buyers -- and, of course, the foreign-born Krugerrands -- both the buyer and the seller were Americans.

About 20 years ago, Ogilvie was part of a deal where the buyer brought a suitcase with $10,000 to a closing.

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