mrken30

Would you buy a 100k house unseen for 80k? Personally I would pay the extra 20k and have the ability to have an inspection. It doesn't take much in repairs to add up to 20k.

Anian

Liens cost a few hundred dollars, so it's not worth doing for less than a few thousand, and you can't even get the money until the house is sold. That never rules out what little Hitlers who run HOAs will do though.

mrken30

After a lien is established, they can then force a foreclosure. They can add the lawyers costs to the lien. So what starts off as $100 lien turns into a $3000 lien and then they foreclose.

RICH

I almost got one for $200 today! Wells Fargo out bid me by $100.

I had bid $200 2 days ago, when "plaintiffs max bid" was hidden. Yesterday, PMB appeared, as the judgement amount ($55k). I wonder if it was in response to my bid, or just them dealing with "today's business".

In the last year, the lowest non plaintiff successful bidder was $1000, an apartment/condo assessed at $17k

Dixie101

I'm fascinated about making offers of a few hundred dollars! I bought a foreclosure, as a holiday home, in Florida at the end of last year. It was advertised for $40000 and was bank owned. I got it for $34000. In terms of price history, it had been sold around 2005 for $85K and when it went to foreclosure in 2014 there was $115K outstanding on the mortgage.
So there are bargains to be had, though mine has already more than doubled in value due to a significant local upturn in property prices.

RICH

Hi! I am toying with these foreclosures so far. It appears highly unlikely I would snap one up for hundreds, but nothing to lose by trying!

Bank owned auctions are slightly different. I bought my house at auction (HUD owned actually) That seems to be one step after the foreclosure auction, where the bank almost inevitably gains possession.

My HUD auction allowed for inspections of the property etc. The foreclosure auction does not. In fact many/most appear to be occupied property, so eviction would come into play. I am trying to learn by sticking my toes in.
From what I have seen, there are some hardcore investors bidding - half a dozen names come up frequently, with relatively big bucks bids.

Then again, there are about 150 properties a week on offer just in my county.

scrubbedexpat091

House next door to the MIL was a foreclosure, no auction though, bank put it on the market as is where is and got pretty close to market value.

The occupants were less then willing to vacate though, so the bailiffs and police assisted them in leaving.

RICH

Dragging this thread up for an update. This week the judgement was (finally) made and the auction is set for April 8th. Judgement amount is $230k. Assessed value is $67k.

I don't think my $20k will cut it. Still watching with interest though.

mrken30

I recently found a new auction site that may be of interest

https://www.homesearch.com/realestat...beach-fl-33062

RICH

So the auction went ahead yesterday. Someone bid up to $85k, but the bank still won!
The tenant/squatter moved out the day before. Hopefully it won't be vacant too long, the back yard is already getting jungle-like.

mrken30

I did find out recently that you cannot buy title insurance for an auction property for the first 30 days or some other period of time.

Pulaski

The bank always wins if the second highest bid is less than the outstanding loan amount. It is unlikely that the bank would allow an auction to conclude with the selling price less than the outstanding loan amount, though it does happen occasionally, usually, I think, when the bank makes an error.

g1ant

I only ever went to one auction, on the steps of the county courthouse. There were a ton of hopeful people there but the banks won every foreclosure. Never bothered going again.

scrubbedexpat099

If the bank was underwater, I doubt they would pay more than the market value? Or even Market less 10%?

Pulaski

But the bank is taking money out of one pocket to put it into the other. The money the bank pays at auction isn't "real", they just pay off the mortgage with their own money to remove the lien, they are effectively buying it from themselves, then they own it "free and clear". Obviously it sells eventually at market price, market price for a rough, foreclosed property in most cases.