I am not a real estate dealer/broker, I am a finance professional and I have a primary residence.

The auction ends in 4 hours.A 2 bedroom condo in a very exclusive building has a final judgement order of $178,000Property market value is around $463,000.Court records show the plaintiff is the first mortgage.HOWEVER the online auction portal also lists the following defendants-DEFENDANTSuntrust Bank (na),DEFENDANTJohn DoeDEFENDANTOne Miami Master Assn Inc,DEFENDANTOne Miami West Condo Assn Inc, Now Suntrust Bank at no point has a mortgage on the property in the county records.Similarly the condo associations listed don't have any liens or any mention at all in court records.

My husband has a finance degree and I have an accounting degree, so we apply a heck of a lot of numbers to our rentals.

One recent situation (this month) a builder we work with had a fine new home 1387 s/f listed for 149,900, lowered the price to 144,900 as soon as construction was complete, and has gotten several offers and is willing to pay closing costs, install a fence, and all appliances for that price.

I'm not real handy myself - more of a finance guy.

Is paying a fine consistently for this worth it?

Our process went as follow:1) 2 reps from different title plants pull title for free (granted we already were giving them a great deal of business)2) A few days before or the day before the scheduled sale, We had an independent abstractor at the county recorders office do a final check before we bid.Unless you have very deep pockets or have a very narrow niche property you are targeting, paying for that many title reports in so many counties may be cost prohibitive.

With that being said it is a fine dance to have that number work for the seller as well.   

There is a fine line between pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and over extending yourself into constant stress.2.

I am a finance professional and truly see investing in real estate as a great way to build wealth.