Seeking advice on how much to bid for a foreclosure in FL

[January Johnson]

Hello BP community - I am newly interested in buying foreclosure properties via online auction, and I would like some advice on how much to bid.  The auction I am inquiring about will take place on 9/23, this Friday.  

Here is what I know about the house and what I have done so far:

The 2015 assessed value for the property is approximately $105,000.  The final judgement amount is approximately $25,000.  I happen to know the person who owns this house (small town), but I am not in contact with him at all and only found out it was his house through county records.  Also, I know he  inherited the house from his mother in 2012 and likely took out a loan against the house for other business as he did not need a mortgage to obtain the property originally.

I have ordered an O&E report from the title company already (good advice from another thread here on BP) so I can find out what liens and other judgements may exist.

My question is, what can I expect in the bidding process?  Would competitors bid as high as (or very close to) the AV?  Would no one bid more than the final judgement amount?  I have no idea what to expect on the bidding process and would like some guidance.  I don't know what the house looks like inside, but the outside is in good shape, the house was built in 1985, and it is in a desirable location for renting, which would be my goal.

I have an account open with the county's online auction site and will put the 5% deposit money in ASAP.  I need to move money around from other accounts in order to have the balance due available within the auction's time frame, but I do not anticipate that this will be a problem.

I know nothing is certain in transactions like this, but am I crazy to think I could get this house for the $25,000 final judgement amount or something close to it?

Thank you for your time to advice a newbie!

[Susan Smith]

@January Johnson, I am a foreclosure subject matter expert for a large nationwide mortgage company which has a huge mortgage loan pool in Florida. 

My question is, what can I expect in the bidding process?

IF the senior lienholder initiated the foreclosure action, you can expect the junior lienholder to bid at the foreclosure sale because jr lienholders who are owed more than $25K on a house worth $105k will to want to recoup their money (by either winning the property themselves at the auction or by driving the bid up).  The  junior (sometimes referred to as the 2nd mortgage holder) will drive the bid up because  the jr lienholder is entitled to the excess sales proceeds above (the judgment amount of) $25k.

Would competitors bid as high as (or very close to) the AV

Competitors should probably bid based on the average retail value (ARV) ... not the Assessed Value.

Am I crazy to think I could get this house for the $25,000 final judgement amount or something close to it?

No. You're not crazy. Sometimes people don't show up to bid for various reasons. I've even seen situations where the person scheduled to cry the sale failed to show up and as a result the courts intervened and accepted an extremely low bid from a random person.   I think the thing you watch out for ( and you may already know this but I want to make sure its covered here) is the position of the lienholder initiating the foreclosure action.  If the junior lienholder initiated the action you could win the bid for $25.1k but you'd have to payoff both the $25.1k AND all senior lienholder balances.