Community Chat

[Starpolisher]

Does anyone have any first hand experience with this? I've heard that sometimes you can get a house for a lot less than market value if you have cash at auction. Ds and ddil are looking into this. Would like advice. Dh and I are wondering if we should buy and then sell it to them? Anyone ever done this?

[151949]

Are you able to get inside and see the condition of the house before the auction?

I know someone who let his house go into foreclosure several years ago in order to get out of the bad mortgage deal he had agreed to, then his SO bought the house back at the auction for a fraction of what he had owed on it. He proudly thinks he beat the system.

[Bri21]

The only thing I know about buying a house at auction is what I see on TV.

I guess I would be worried about the condition of the house and if there were any liens on the property.  The house is probably sold in "as is" condition, which would really worry me. 

[Shanus]

"Buyer beware"....my first thoughts are you "get what you pay for" and "money pit". Sorry for the tired quotes, but IMO they ring true.

[cherry]

I'd never buy something without it being inspected. There could be a multitude of things wrong with it. If they lost the home, they sure wouldn't worry about maintenance

[wagirl]

My BFF and her mom just bought a condo by the aution method but they went down town Phoenix where a group of people gathered to do it just on a street corner. But she researched it very well and by doing so, was able to get this condo for what her price range was. Now this happened because the original owner died and the bank took it back then autioned it off. But homework is needed. Don't go into it cold turkey. You have to pay upfront afterwards and there was a $10 k fee that you don't get back if you are out bid. But it is on the up and up.They got the deed a month later and are now doing a total re model as we speak.

[CelticCrafter]

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@wagirl wrote:

My BFF and her mom just bought a condo by the aution method but they went down town Phoenix where a group of people gathered to do it just on a street corner. But she researched it very well and by doing so, was able to get this condo for what her price range was. Now this happened because the original owner died and the bank took it back then autioned it off. But homework is needed. Don't go into it cold turkey. You have to pay upfront afterwards and there was a $10 k fee that you don't get back if you are out bid. But it is on the up and up.They got the deed a month later and are now doing a total re model as we speak.

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That doesn't sound right...

[tansy]

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@CelticCrafter wrote:

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@wagirl wrote:

My BFF and her mom just bought a condo by the aution method but they went down town Phoenix where a group of people gathered to do it just on a street corner. But she researched it very well and by doing so, was able to get this condo for what her price range was. Now this happened because the original owner died and the bank took it back then autioned it off. But homework is needed. Don't go into it cold turkey. You have to pay upfront afterwards and there was a $10 k fee that you don't get back if you are out bid. But it is on the up and up.They got the deed a month later and are now doing a total re model as we speak.

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That doesn't sound right...

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I considered buying a home via auction in the general Phoenix area.  There was a non refundable fee of 2k.  

[Shelbelle]

Ask all your questions  to the company handling the auction, they can be handled differently, some allow a preinspection of the house, some dont. Also I have heard cases where no one showsup for the auction and it gets cancelled. I would think properties being auctioned off are sold AS IS.

[Allegheny]

There are all kinds of real estate auctions.  Bank foreclosures, Sheriff sales tax related auctions, government seized property auctions.  The best thing a person can do if interested in these types of sales is to educate themselves pertinent to the particular program they are considering.