House Auctions, Anyone Gone to One?

I am familiar with them. Basically, there are several different types of sales/auctions.

My first home was a foreclosure and my realtor placed my bid for me and I got the home. I never attended the sale and I was able to finance the home. This was an as is sale and I had to do quite a bit of work to move into it.

There are some that are cash sales, as is, bank foreclosure trustee sales.

The county or state may have one for delinquent tax. In our county, the auction is actually held by an auctioneer and two wing men. They start at the amount of tax due and take the highest bid. The proceeds are eligible to go back to the original homeowner, if they claim it.

There are also certificate lien sales. That is a bill is delinquent, so the county/state will sell a certificate of lien against the home for the total amount due. There is a two year redemption period where you will earn interest and you may be repaid or after that period of time you may request the deed.

You may have to go through an eviction process and may not get a clear deed right away. The likelihood of getting a clear deed and flipping the home right away is very slim.

Many county and states have auctions and or sales online. Google the particular state or county and see what their process is.

My suggestion is, you do it for investment purposes and not to purchase your first home, although I did.

My brother and sister in law do this all the time. They flip houses as a second job. You have to do a little research to make sure there isn't any outstanding taxes, water bills, and liens on the house because that would become your responsibility. It's a cash deal and everything is 'as is' so you have to go in thinking that there could be major issues costing a lot of money.

Most of the houses they have bought have required a lot of work. Even some of the houses that looked good needed things. Their last one was in great condition however the former owners took the hot water heater, 2 out of 3 bathroom vanities, a couple toilets, several doors, and half the kitchen cabinets. Strange since they moved in with relatives.

They call it up for auction but it's not really an auctioneer taking and calling bids like you see on storage wars. A bank rep will be there and usually goes a dollar over what ever anyone else offers its over and done in about 10 mins. The bank that owns the loan will have a real estate company list and sell it. And fyi if your not familiar with for closures they actually take almost 2 years from start to finish

If you have cash and don't mind getting it "as is" then you can save a lot of money. But know that they do this to get the most money for the home, in other words a bidding war can easily start.

I have purchased several foreclosed homes and they did not have much damage, but I have seen plenty that I would never even pay a dollar for.

Yes, we have. The house will be sold at the county courthouse in what is called a Trustee Sale. There's a "reserve" bid - in other words, if nobody bids above that amount, the house will revert back to the bank. You have to have cash in hand to buy the house (or a cashier's check - no financing allowed). One thing you need to do your homework on beforehand is to make sure the title is clear, or if it's not, find out what kind of liens there are on the property. This is all public record, as is the date of the Trustee Sale, so you can go online and find out all of this information, most likely. If you buy the house, you're buying any liens that go with it. So just make sure the title is clear before you bid. Also, the house will be sold as-is, no warranties, no guarantees. It's best to really figure out what kind of condition the home is in to the best of your ability. Does the roof need replacement? Did the previous owners punch holes in all the walls? Did they remove all of the plumbing and electrical? (We have bought houses like that before, and factored in the cost of repairs to our bids.) Buying at auction is by far the cheapest and least complicated way to buy a house, BUT you really have to do your homework first, or it could turn into a money pit very quickly.