Tampa / Hillsborough County Foreclosure Auction Help!

[Mark J.]

Hi Everybody--

I've been watching and researching the foreclosure auctions in Hillsborough County (Tampa, FL area) for the last several months and think I'm ready to move to the next stage-- POSSIBLY bidding! ;) And, believe it or not, that's a big step up from the "Holy Crap No Way That's Crazy I'm Going to Lose All My Money and My Kids Won't Go to College and I'll Be a Failure" stage I was at previously.

I'd like to connect with others in the Tampa area who have experience purchasing homes through the Hillsborough foreclosure auction. Free coffee is involved.

Thank you!

Mark...

[Dave Bingham]

@Mark J. 

Hi Mark. I don't need free coffee but meeting sometime sounds great! I've reached out to several investors in the area and met up with them. It's nice to meet new folks and see how I can help them. My experience with the Hillsborough county foreclosure site has been about the same as it was for Pasco. They use R4C to dispose of the properties. I usually see the house is bid up to 90%+ of its market value or it goes for a ridiculously low amount.  I have never seen the bids stop in the middle.

Typically the reserve is set for the amount of money due and all other fees incurred. In Hillsborough and Pasco some of these reserves are so low this can't be the case. If it were one-off's here and there I'd think it was just someone who had paid off a large part of the house and was just losing it but it happens frequently. I just don't think there are that many who pay off that much and then just let it go.

I think the Trustees keep the numbers low to entice and do not start with the amount owed but try to get it up to that amount. That is their job after all as they act as a fiduciary principal to the borrower. If no one bids at a crazy low price I imagine the trustees feel there is no demand and obviously aren't going to bid against no one and it goes REO. Other times I see it start low and get to 90%+ of market value. Checking the court records and driving by these homes after they have sold nearly everyday afterwards you can see the U-Hauls and very quickly determine that it was purchased by an owner-occupant. They are thrilled to get a 120K house for 105K. From an rehab and sell investor point of view we just can't compete with these buyers.

If you bid on something low and keep bidding the trustee never leaves it low that I have seen, hence no winning bids in between market price and very low starting balance. They always have the winning bid until the bid equals or exceeds the debt associated with the property. There could be exceptions but I have never seen them, maybe you have and that fuels your excitement, understandably so.

Want to meet some time and share some information?