Hubzu - Any surprises?

[Greg Grant]

So I am new to this, but have been browsing through hubzu for  a couple months now.  And I wasn't planning on bidding on anything yet, I definitely want to start small.

I've been making a list of properties that catch my eye and either visiting them in person or viewing the pictures and making little notes on what needs to be done, and what the price progression is along with comp info.

The other day I came across a condo for under $30k (reserve has already been met), the comps are $52-$55k and it is in pretty decent shape.  Only small cosmetic things need to be done.

So that got me thinking, that maybe I should bid on it.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not mesmerized by the auction environment at all.  I have the will power to pass it up.  But I wanted to clear up any Hubzu issues in my mind first.

Is there any info/advice someone would be willing to offer me when dealing with hubzu?

I've done some searching and seen people complaining about not getting the property when they had the highest bid and then the property got relisted and so on.  But I figured that property probably didn't meet the reserve and that person didn't know about the reserve.

I've also seen many post's from people saying the title company Hubzu uses is a nightmare to deal with and that anyone buying from hubzu should spend the extra $'s and get their own title company.

Anything else?

[Marian Smith]

I lined up a realtor who I could put on the offer and the realtor took $500 and rebated me the rest. A broker. Basically just getting my own money back as hubzu charges 4% plus a technology fee. The 4% is to pay the buyers broker...and hubzu 1% plus the fee.
I have no idea if the other bidders were actually able to close, but I outbid the last bidder by 1k and was told I had to outbid by 2k as the last bidder had set up an autobid with a limit....hubzu policy. I felt scammed. I also felt scammed as I ended up paying 10% over the reserve...bidding against phantoms. The house was worth about the reserve and I overpaid but prices have just kept going up so I am not sorry about the purchase. I was afraid to send my cash to the title company but when I called it was a larger title company working under the name of the hubzu title company/attorney in Dallas. I had no problems closing long distance. I think hubzu is ocwen (huge) and title companies are bonded. Also, no reason to think you will ever need title defended if the property went through foreclosure on the courthouse steps...so why pay for your own title company? IMO :-)