BUYING A HOME AT A COURT HOUSE AUCTION

Have you ever thought about buying a foreclosure on "the court house steps"? The process is a public auction that lenders sometimes hold at the county court house. I recently attended one in Florida. Thankfully, if was held in a nicely air conditioned room. Florida, in late July, can be a bit on the tropical (read: so humid the mosquitoes can't breath) side. But I must warn you, that road to riches is paved with some bus-sized pot holes.

I have worked with a local broker in Florida who was nice enough to take me along and explain some of the ins and outs. There were two glaring ones. The first is the property itself. When buying at any kind of auction, it is the biggest case of "buyer beware" you will ever encounter. You can be the lucky winner of a property that seems well under market. But (there's always one of those, huh?), if you don't do your homework, you may also be the lucky recipient of all kinds of previous tax liens, mechanics liens, IRS liens and various other hidden problems. You need to research these through a local title company, and possibly a real estate attorney. Then you have the physical condition of the property. Keep in mind, this is not only a home that was probably in some state of disrepair when the previous sellers left, it has sat for an extended period of time since then. Homes tend to die when left vacant. The roof, plumbing, electrical, appliances are but a few things that can rapidly deteriorate when a house is left vacant. Throw in mold, vandalism and vagrancy and you have a potential money pit.

The other gem in all this is the auction process. I was in a room with 40-50 other bidders, an interesting lot to say the least. Of all the people in the room, there were 5 or 6 "players". Basically, these were brokers that had a lot, I mean a LOT, of investor money behind them. They all know each other and, to some degree, work in concert. To say most of them were anything but cordial to the rest of the folks in the room would be an understatement. Let's just say that Southern hospitality was not a concept these folks were familiar with. So, if you as an eager, prospective home purchaser are interested in 1 or a few homes, know who you are going into battle against. You are not just bidding against those particular guys. You are bidding against them and all of their clients as well.

That is a short version of four hours spent in a public auction. There is money to be made buying property this way. There's a bunch of money there. But, (there's that pesky "but" again), if you are unfamiliar with the process, be very careful. You may end up with a nightmare instead of your dream home. Please have a look at this article. It will give you some more information: http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/gulf-coast-associates/5166/show/