NFT: House auction question

Its being sold "as-is." Not uncommon. I bought my house "as-is" and they threw in a home warranty (which was nice. Got me a new hot water heater). Its certainly a risk, but if you are getting the house well under market value then.

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Here are the basic steps for participating in a live foreclosure auction: Find and track foreclosure auctions.... Do your research.... Drive by the property, if possible.... Get your financing in order.... Confirm all auction details, even on the day of the auction.... Attend the auction and bid!.... Wait for your certificate of title....

Seems to line up with most of what you typed above. If you are going to bid, I'd especially follow up on "Drive by the property, if possible".

If you're buying this property as is, while it might not get you details of damages, drive to the property and do walk through around the house. You'll be able to better gauge the condition and repairs needed in person and possibly look through a few windows to see what the inside condition is like.

Plus driving to the property would give you a nice feel for the area and neighborhood you're planning to buy into.

All this might seem like a lot of work and out of your way since the property is not close to you but I'd be worth the trip before sinking all that $$$ into a money pit that's more trouble than fixing up.

dont expect youll be the only person to attend the auction. i conduct foreclosure sales on some giant pieces of shit and even they get a handful of bidders. this being a well maintained property it will almost certainly land near market value.

But the fact that you will lose $10,000 if something major comes up at inspection seems like a huge risk.

I've absolutely NO experience w/ auctions, but if you ARE going to take the trouble to go see the property, it would seem you have nothing to lose by talking to the neighbors.

You might get a talkative one, who remembers when the pipes burst or, the renters who trashed the place or that it is an estate quick sale and the previous owner was fastidious.

What say the experts?

In comment 13505372 I am Ninja said:

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dont expect youll be the only person to attend the auction. i conduct foreclosure sales on some giant pieces of shit and even they get a handful of bidders. this being a well maintained property it will almost certainly land near market value.

That's what I'm thinking, I mean the floors in this house are immaculate and it's so beautiful reclaimed oak thick slats. I mean nice. It's priced to start at half the comps

You will probably have to pay off all the taxes - any idea how much that is?

it was in foreclosure. The auction was held at a title company. I was told in advance the terms included bringing certified check for deposit with remainder of bid required within 72 hours. Basically a cash bid.

When I showed up I was giddy because there was only one other bidder there and he was a friend and the next-door neighbor to the property. As soon as he saw me he told me that he wouldn't be bidding - he wanted me to buy the place.

I spoke with the auctioneer who told me the following. The opening bid was to be placed by the bank for the value of the outstanding mortgage. I would be able to raise the bid by $100 and if nobody else bid I would be the winner. I would then be responsible for any outstanding taxes and liability on the home. I had already researched and found that a year's worth of taxes were coming due.

When the auction was supposed to start we were told there would be a delay. The bank was not able to place a bid. There would be no auction.

In the meantime, the homeowner found out about my interest and proposed selling the home to me directly. He wanted to simply walk away from the home, and I was happy to buy him out for what he owed, which is essentially what I was going to bid.

Not sure all real-estate auctions work the same way, but that's how this one went.

Good luck to you!

In comment 13505375 mattlawson said:

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But the fact that you will lose $10,000 if something major comes up at inspection seems like a huge risk.

You don't get it. There IS no inspection. If you want to call an engineer after you buy it by all means do that but it has nothing to do with the home purchase.

As-Is in this situation really means as-is.

and without a contingency? Pictures can be very misleading. I'm an agent, and walked into a lot of dogs that looked great in photos. Plus there's probably a 10% buyer's premium. Auctions sound great but rarely pay off for the buyer.

Or ability to walk away if something comes up and not lose my ass. Seems stupid

in the know who usually have a relationship with either the bank and or the auction house so they know what they are getting.

In ground oil tank would be my concern. That could be very costly although I think in most cases even with an as is original owner is responsible.

because you are buying it at a huge discount. They just want to sell the house quickly and get out of the the situation. The house could be perfectly fine. They just don't want to wait and fight over say the boiler needs repair. Than you say I don't want it because of some small issue. If you get 50k off the value who cares.