Florida: How long can owner wait to sell their preforeclosed home

[Carlos Alvarez]

Hi all:

Can preforeclosure owners in Florida sell their home at any point all the way up to 5 days before their auction date? Or is it right until their final judgement, which usually comes  ~30 days before the auction date?

Also, once the owners agree to sell their home, and you provide them with money, they would have to pay off their loan + any other fees. Is it still possible for them to do this 5 days before auction, or is it more realistic for for the lender to cooperate before final judgement? 

Thanks for all the help.

Carlos

[John Thedford]

An owner can sell anytime before the auction. However, the logistics can be difficult. A buyer would need the payoff and to get funds into the hands of the plaintiff or their attorney prior to sale. I suspect the transaction would need to be recorded prior to sale as well (you would need to talk to your attorney on that point). I just purchased one three days before auction. It was recorded the same day and new ownership was reflected immediately in the public records. However, even though the plaintiffs attorney was notified and proof sent, they didn't have time to remove it from the auction website. I watched it "sell" to another bidder. They were pretty excited over their "purchase". They were then informed that they weren't "the buyer" and after checking with the title company they were forced to move on. Several days after the sale the plaintiffs attorney filed a motion to vacate sale, vacate foreclosure action, etc. I just received the approved motion signed by the judge. One note on buying foreclosures in Florida: the owner has 10 days to redeem their property (unlike a tax deed sale).  In the current transaction, there was no right of redemption because the property was willingly sold prior to foreclosure sale.