AUCTION AND ONE WEST BANK

[Aisha Washington]

Hello all, this is a two part question,  what has your experince  been with forclosure auctions and do you have any feedback. I will participate  in my first one this week and just want to pointers before I go. Secondly, does anyone have a contact person in the reo/shortsale or foreclosure department at onewestbank. Thanks!  

[Jean Norton]

If you're speaking about auction, like at the courthouse steps, there is a lot of work involved with researching liens, etc.  There are many liens that follow with the property when bidding on the courthouse steps.  My personal experience is the "good ol' boys" have that system all locked up.   

You may enjoy this expert from one of my blog posts: 

Early on I attended the foreclosures in Travis and Williamson Counties, the counties near where I live in Austin. I even had my cashier’s check ready to purchase a sweet foreclosure at a heavily discounted price. I drove around town, viewed the properties and I was ready with my notes, my values and my “not to exceed” price.

I was ready. I knew which property to bid on and the excitement started when the bidding started. The bidding started. I was up against this cowboy that seemed to know what he was doing. I kept bidding and the next thing I knew the bidding was higher than the cashier’s check I had with me. I KNEW that bid amount was higher than it should be. These guys were kicking me out of the game.

So the conversation I had with this guy went like this:

Jean: “What does it take for me to get a foreclosure here?”
Cowboy: “You might try going someplace else.”
Jean: “I guess I can go to Williamson County.”
Cowboy: “No, we’re in Williamson County too.”
Jean: “What about Bastrop County?”
Cowboy: “Yes, you can go to Bastrop County, we aren’t there.”

Needless to say that was my last visit to the Travis County Courthouse for a foreclosure sale.