ADDLE RIVER, N.J., Aug. 28 — Soon after Michael Acciardi saw that the house next door to his was up for sale, he sidled over to its owner and asked, as diplomatically as he could, about any flaws.

“I asked him, point-blank, if there was anything wrong with the house,” Mr. Acciardi said on Monday, recalling a conversation earlier this summer with his neighbor Philip Tamis. “He said everything was fine. At the time, he had two dogs in his hands.”

Mr. Acciardi, 47, who placed a $2.4 million bid on the house despite never having set foot in it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/ny...=1&oref=slogin