Sheriff Sales - Any inside help?

[Steven Cowles]

So I have bought several properties from my local sheriff sale. Pretty straight forward process. Get the list of houses, inspect the outside of the homes, check title, try to buy it low enough that you can make money.

So anyone who buys homes this way knows that the banks attorney always starts the bid. You don’t know what that starting bid is going to be until the day of the sale. I have been attending these for years and have found that some of my competitors (other investors) have inside information on what the bids are going to start out at. I’m trying to figure out where they are getting this information from so I can hopefully obtain the same information.

Knowing this information would be a huge time saver! help!

[John Teachout]

I was just discussing this a few days ago with an attorney that specializes in closings. He said that mortgages are registered and by making the assumption it was a 30 year loan, you can calculate the amount paid off. This gives a ballpark guesstimate of what the lender is still owed.

Also, he told me that the sale is not necessarily for the first position mortgage so you have to pay attention to what you're buying. Also, there can be tax liens and so forth so you would want to know what those may total up to as well.