Ok today was the first day I ever attended a sheriff’s sale. I did not plan on bidding but I brought a check anyway.
Well I was interested in a 4 family in my neighborhood which is assessed at 200,000$ but probably worth 250,000.
The bidding started at 50,000$. I was shocked and got into the game with this one guy. I won the bid at
77, 000$. I have a court date on july 5th to confirm the purchase. The bank representative stated that the judged will probably not confirm the bid since it is so far from the market value.
Well what’s that about???
I never heard of that happening.
Also the guy who I was bidding against bought the next 4 family owned by the same guy who was in foreclosure in the property I bid on.
I thought, “what the hell. Im going to ask this guy what he thinks”.
I asked him what he thought the likelyhood was that the purchases would be confirmed.
(He bought the other 4 family assessed at 200,000 for 70,000).
He said , Oh the judge wont allow it but I already bought the property!!!
Now, what the heck does that mean???
Is he playing with my head or is there something to this game I dont get???
So you plopped down 77K and did not know what u were buying? How do you know you didn’t buy the second mortgage to his property? I would never invest like that on emmotion. That is the best way to lose a ton of cash.
BTW I have a very nice swamp land in Southern Jersey for 1 mil an acre, prime development! Also I got a bridge in…
Do bidders at auctions try to mess with your head? Absolutely. That’s part of the game. If as a result you hesitate on the next house that could be worth thousands of dollars to them.
On what to do with the property you need to know what the situation is meaning are there any senior liens, how much is the past due taxes, how much to fix it up, how much do you want to make when you sell, when you sell it how much can you get? All this should be figured out before you even bid then you’ll know how much your maximum bid is.
In judicial foreclosures it is ultimately up to the judge and they may reject a bid but you can never ever go above your maximum bid. If those numbers don’t work for the court then let them or the next novice investor to come along deal with it. A useful belief is that you never make the defaulted homeowner’s problem(s) your problem(s). You have to buy the way that’s right for you.
Thank you for the responses. I dont know how all of this is going to turn out but The worst case scenerio is that I learn a very expensive lesson. I hope that wont be the case.
I’m trying to find out about the liens. I went to the court house. There is only one mortgage out on the house. There are no property taxes owed/ He has tax wfromarrants the state of wisconsin. I was told today that this does not get attached to the property but Im not sure about that???
I called a lawyer and he said I have to just wait while the title co. figures out whats going on.
I have lost my peace of mind. I did a dumb thing! I will never do this again.
Always do research research research. If you think you researched it enough, do more. No such thing as a free lunch and jumping in on an auction with 77K without even knowing what you just bought is very dumb. You probably would have been better off going to Atlantic City and putting it all on Black.
If the judge does not take your offer then they will give your money back. Depending on which state your in there is a right of redemption period at a foreclosure auction. Which means the seller can try and take back the property if they come up with the money and attorney fees in that case you would get back your money and interest from the time you purchased it.
As far as the bank rep is concerned, sometimes they have a minimum bid ($100,000) and if your offer did not meet that bid they could possibly reject the offer.
When he say he brought the property, that probably means that he already had an offer that was accepted by the bank but, they did not have enough time to stop the Sheriff’s sale. In that case you would get the money also. I don’t think that you lost any money it just might be tied up for a minute.
A lot of times at foreclosure sales once the sale has happened then other liens, except for taxes automatically comes off I believe. Contact your local city or county office and ask them more about foreclosures.
There are many phases in the foreclosure process. You might want to try and get them before the sale or try and get them from the bank.
Anyway good luck try not to worry so much. When it’s all said and done I believe that you are going to at least get your money
When they reject your bid and give you your money back, just be thankful you learned a lesson that did not cost you a small fortune. Never bid blindly at an auction, that is never good policy. Research is the key. Know everything you can about the property before even thinking about going to the sale. And stay focus!
Thank you for the responses. I called the lawyer representing the bank and talked with the his secretary.
I guess there are about 5,000$ in leins against the property. The income tax warrants are not attached. She also told me that the owners other house which was bid on by someone else was payed off and no longer in foreclosure. She staed that he said he planned on paying off the house I bid on. She also said that he often does not keep his word. But I do not see how someone would let all that equity get away.
He has up until july 5th to pay it off. She said she will call if he pays it off earlier.
SO now Im hoping he does not come pay it off!!! But Ill also be real glad to get my 10,000$ back. That was pretty stressful thinking that I could have lost it!!!
I have my serenity back now!!!
I sure did learn a lesson and more info on how to play this game. Thanks for all of your replies. I appreciate them. Mary Ellen
It sounds like it’s gona work you for you one way or another. Never count on the other person being stupid, that is bad gamble. I always go into a situation like and pretend they are smart, and I am the dumb one. If someone is willing to let go property that is worth, in your opinion 200K or more, for 77K, than their might be something wrong with it that you do not know about. Either way good luck. Also remember Research and Education is the key. People who just jump into things, are the ones who end up getting hurt the most.
Thanks for updating up. I am glad you are getting your money back. I lost my serenity for you. We all have lessons to learn but a $10,000 one is a little hard.