A Florida man thought he'd landed a steal when he bid on a $9,100 Florida villa in an online auction but ended up buying a strip of grass running in between two homes - and officials say there's nothing he can do about a refund.

Kerville Holness thought he purchased the Tamarac villa, worth $177,000, during a Broward online auction of properties that defaulted on their taxes.

But it turned out he had purchased a one-foot-wide, 100-foot-long strip of grass on Northwest 100th Way in Spring Lake - a measly piece of land worth just $50.

Kerville Holness thought he purchased a Florida villa for $9,100 in a Broward online auction, but he ended up purchasing a one-foot-wide, 100-foot-long strip of grass that runs between two villas on Northwest 100th Way in Spring Lake. The measly strip pictured circled in red

The piece of land starts at the sidewalk curb where two mailboxes stand and goes under a wall separating the garages of two adjoining villas, then extends to the backyards of the homes.

Despite the rip-off deal, officials say there's nothing Holness, a first-time auction bidder from Tamarac, can do according to state law.

'It's deception. There was no demarcation to show it's just a line going through the [villa duplex], even though they have the tools to show that,' Holness said to the Sun Sentinel.

'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?' he added.

He says that the property appraiser images were linked to the auction site that showed the villa as the item to be bid on. But the appraiser's site and information on the county's tax site say that the building had no value and the land only takes up 100 square feet and the property is one-foot-wide.

Now officials are warning auction participants to be wary of bidding on properties.

The piece of land starts at the sidewalk curb, goes under a wall separating the garages of two adjoining villas, then extends to the backyards of the homes. But officials say Holness should've read the auction information better and there's nothing he can do about a refund

The county put a warning on the online auction site on Thursday telling investors to 'do your research' and that 'Tax Deed sales are not for the uninformed.'

'He may go to court and find some error in the sale procedure,' real estate attorney Gary Singer said to the paper. 'Generally speaking, he bought what he was supposed to have bought.'

It's not clear why the strip of land was never attached to either of the adjoining properties but remained in the possession of developer GHO Tamarac II. The company dissolved and taxes stopped being paid on the property, leading to the auction in March.

Tina DeFeo bought one of those two villas in April after the auction and was shocked to learn of Holness' purchase.

'It makes no sense. I don't know how you buy a strip of grass like that,' she said.

Holness wasn't the only one duped on the auction site. He was one of four bidders on the Tamarac parcel.