It's a bit more complicated than that, of course, but, really, if the buyer had an agent on his side, namely, me, I don't think he'd be in this situation.

Really.

Pritam Singh ... is the reluctant buyer of Boston's most expensive home, a $14.3 million, massive 7,000-square-foot condo atop what is soon-to-become the city's most elite address, the Residences at Mandarin, at the Prudential Center. Now, however, Singh is suing Brown and his partners, the builders of the Mandarin, to void the deal and get back his $3.4 million deposit.

The problem: Singh says the condo doesn't get enough light in winter, and no one told him.

If you read Mr Bailey's story, and you should, it goes on to say that Mr Singh's daughter came to Boston a couple years ago, dropped by for less than an hour, and picked up some floorplans of the project. Half a year later, Mr Singh came to town, spent an hour in the sales office, half the time on his cell phone. Then, in May, 2005, he called the sales agent and said he wanted not just one unit, but two.

Then, in May, 2006, he called to say he wanted out, because the unit was too dark, and his wife suffers from Seasonal Disorder Affliction (which I don't doubt ... it exists).

Basically, I say, it's "Buyer Beware". I very much doubt the sales office excluded any information about the amount of light the units would receive.

I think, as Mr Bailey does, that Mr Singh bought without thinking it through.

The solution? Use a buyer's agent.

Someone who, I dunno, might actually know how much light the building will get.

I was walking down Boylston Street, yesterday, at around 4:00 PM, and the entire Mandarin Oriental was bathed in shadows. The sun was already setting, and the Prudential tower and two of the Avalon Bay rental buildings blocked every beam.

Apparently, the buyer didn't visit the site during that time of day, or during that time of year.

I guess the more I think about it, the more right I think I am about this.

You can't count on your buyer's agent to know everything, but that for sure, I'd have pointed out.

The tough part is, the Residences at the Mandarin Oriental didn't allow broker participation; not because they were trying to hide anything, but because they thought they could sell out, without using them; which they were right about.

The buyers would have had to pay their buyer's agents out of their own pockets, and I doubt many of them would have thought it was a good investment.

Obviously, in retrospect, it would've been.

Now, it's all about lawsuits and escrow funds.

No matter what, Singh has gotten a lot of great press over this. Don't think he hasn't considered that someone may read about his property and figure they'll buy it, for himself. And, his non-SAD wife.

More: The speed of light - By Steve Bailey, The Boston Globe