Doing due diligence on foreclosures

[Eric Gross]

Thank you for taking time to read my post and I value all advice given! I have been looking at houses on the mls for the last 6 months but with the market heating up in my area it is getting harder to ind deals. Recently I got on auction.com and found some very interesting properties that peaked my interest. I would love to bid on some of these properties but I first want to make sure I have done the necessary due diligence but I don’t know where to really start. How do I look up liens in the property? Is there anything else to be weary of? Is there certain tips or hints to help buying on auction.com? Again any advice is welcomed and appreciated!

[Dan Rosenberger]

There are basically two categories of homes on auction.com.  There are bank-owned homes.  Those have a starting bid about 1/3 or 1/4 of the actual reserve price.  It does attract attention with the low starting bid, but the starting bid is not real.  Do some searching on this site.  If you do end up buying one, you should be able to get title insurance (on your nickel of course.)

The second category is homes that are being auctioned off on the courthouse steps. Those are sheriff sales or trustee sales.  Some asset managers choose to advertise those sales on the auction.com site.  Those come with their own set of challenges, similar to what you would face in any foreclosure auction.  Attend some of those events and ask questions.  Procedures can vary by state and by county.