I am going to a real estate auction at the local courthouse tomorrow – hope to make a bid.
What do I need to do today to prepare? Does it make sense for me to have a title search done, when I haven’t won the bid let alone made a bid/offer yet?
Auctions marketing for real estate works like a charm with all types of properties (residential, commercial, industrial, farms, ranches, land). Turn virtually any type of property into cash quickly and sell "as-is" with no hassles or fix up.
Mr. and Mrs. Clagg, luxury home builders, owned a magnificent 3,000 square foot residence situated on a third of an acre. Sadly, they had their property on the market for over 10 months without an offer, even though the price was reduced 3 times. Read more...
This property was a rental property owned by an investor. It is located in Southwest Bakersfield in the Silver Creek development. The home was in good condition with over 1,600 sq. feet (3 bedroom 2.5 baths). Read more...
Regardless of where you are located it is best to know what you are in for. The fact that you do not know what to do today to prepare indicates that this is your first time. I invest in NYC and one of the best pieces of advice that have ever been given to me is to attend atleast 2 auctions and do a “test” run before you ever bid on anything. Auctions can be confusing, frantic and in some areas dominated by savvy investors. You don’t want to go into it without knowing that you are 100% prepared for what you will face.
I don’t want to discourage you in anyway but I have seem some tremendous mistakes that could have been avoided with some experience, research and practice. I wouldn’t want that to happen to anyone.
If you are set on going there are a few things you should do today.
1. Make sure you have done a full title search on the property to know of all mortgages, liens or any other issues that you should be aware of. Remember these will be yours when you purchase the home.
2. Contact the plaintiff’s attorney to make sure that the auction will still be happening.
3. Have atleast 10%down ready in cash or a cashier’s check. You may also want to check with the county to make sure it is 10%, this tends to be the standard nationwide but some places are 20%.
4. Make sure that you feel confident that you know everything you possibly could know about the property.
Good luck out there and remember you want to know everything about a property BEFORE bidding not after when it is too late.
Today you need to re-confirm all the due diligence you’ve done in the past month. There won’t be time to do a title search between the moment you win the bid and the moment you hand over the money – you have to already know about the condition of title prior to bidding.
Also know whether or not the house is vacant yet. Also know what the laws are regarding rights of rescission. Also know that the trustee did any notifications to secondary lien holders in a timely and legal manner.
The investors who actually do make money on these sales know precisely what to look for and what to look out for.
Be ready with 10% of the purchase price in either cash or certified check. Keep in mind this is seperate from whatever money you plan on giving the bank as a downpayment. Also, the bidding usually starts at the total amount of all leins, so a title search isnt that important