Buying at public auction question

Buying at public auction question

Broker / Investor · Tewksbury, MA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 351 votes

Hi Everyone

I am going to be attending an auction soon and I wanted to know what other investors do leading up to the auction. In my state auctions are at the residence not at a courthouse. At least this is all I have seen so far. Everyone comes to the residence signs up with the auctioneer and has a $5000 certified check ready should they win the bid. The winner of the bid takes title and is responsible for all liens on the property and people in the property. The winner has 30 days to close, no contingencies, or they can lose the 5000.

Do experienced investors hire title examiners to create an abstract of title to see how the property is encumbered prior to making a bid? If the foreclosing mortgagee gets a satisfying bid, but the property is still encumbered with several other liens does anyone have a list of what those other liens could be and their priority for getting paid? Also at what point would the investor/buyer have to pay those other liens, before or after close?

Also could an investor/ buyer just buy title insurance prior to close to pay for the liens next in the priority line?

If the numbers make sense will an investor/buyer buy a property where the owner still lives there?

If yes what would the homeowner have to do after title is conveyed to the investor/ buyer to get the title back?

If the homeowner does not try to get back their title and continues to stay in the property how does the investor/ buyer get them out?

Thank you

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  • Broker / Investor · Tewksbury, MA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 351 votes
    10y

    Got it. So prior to every auction a title search should be done which is like 200 to 300, in my state. John do you know anything about lien priority after the foreclosing mortgagee is satisfied who would need to be satisfied next and when would they have to be paid?

  • Rental Property Investor · Auburn, AL · Member since 2015 · 227 posts · 80 votes
    10y

    You may be able to go to your county courthouse and see if there is a way you can view the records for the property.  I do this when I'm planning to bid at our auctions in Lee County Alabama.  I just found that one property I'm interested in has an IRS lien on it!  I may still bid on the property, if the profit margin is there.

  • Broker / Investor · Tewksbury, MA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 351 votes
    10y

    @Account Closed got it. So do the title search, add up all the liens then figure out my max allowable offer at the auction based on those lien costs, rehab, and what I expect to flip it for. 

    Say there was a second mortgage like a heloc. At what point would i be able to figure out if that had a balance? I know the balance would not show up in a title search. Or do second mortgages, because of their priority, get wiped out if there if bids only went high enough to satisfy the first mortgagee.

  • Broker · Logan, UT · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    10y

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/03/22/how-to-buy-a-foreclosure/

  • Real Estate Professional · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2012 · 23k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    10y

    @Rich Hupper If you're an agent, you should know some of this basic stuff;

    Private liens, mtg.s, judgments that are junior to the mtg being foreclosed will get wiped out, assuming they were named/served.

    Buying title insurance does Not take care of existing issues, they are excluded.  

    If you become proficient at searching the available public records you can figure out the liens on 90% of the properties.  You need to know what types of "unrecorded" liens/debts you may responsible in your district....ie. code violations, utility bills, etc.

  • Investor · Bolton, MA · Member since 2012 · 133 posts · 72 votes
    10y

    @Rich Hupper  you can go to masslandrecords.com and any public liens will be listed. 

  • Broker / Investor · Tewksbury, MA · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 351 votes
    10y

    Thank you @Wayne Brooks @Karen Bickford and @William Hochstedler for your help. 

    I do spend a great deal of time on at masslandrecords.com and masscourts.com however I do not know exactly what I should be looking for. Also I do not understand lien priority. I know the first person to record is the first in line to get paid however I know some liens supersede this rule.

    I would also like to know if there is a good book I could read to learn about auctions and all the different types of liens that can cloud title.

    THank you 

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