BiggerPockets

I see opening bids lower than the amount owed when the lender if also filing a deficiency judgment.

Yes, its possible for you to win a property at auction only to to find out there are other liens still in place. A title search is the best way to discover exactly what's going on.

Thank you both for you input. I will be going to the courthouse today to attempt my first title search. Other than bring the official address (parcel # and lot #), is there anything else I need to know about doing a title search? I hope there is a helpful clerk that will hold my hand through this.

Agreed on all of the above. You need to do a lot of research. Are so many possible debtors that can be in line ahead of you. I have always thought there should be rules to require a title report for bidders, full disclosure. When you consider other forms of transactions, it is often illegal to sell interest something that is not clear - particularly without disclosure or permission from the parties in line to collect. Fraudulent conveyance...

If that were the case though it would be a disadvantage to banks, since the only people buying upside down deals are those who were duped into doing it. In the end, it is the buyer's fault, but it a nasty trick to pull. Since the banks have the money and the influence, this is why they are able to subvert traditional consumer protections.

Good luck, be careful... and REOs can offer a much safer way to buy for those who are getting started. You have a lot more outs to correct a bad mistake or oversight.

Thanks all for your responses, and for not laughing at my questions, which must seem very simple to you pros.

Regarding Greg's comment "It is becoming prevalent for opening bids to be lower than the total owed. Lenders are lowering bids to more appropriately reflect the property value to facilitate foreclosure sale liquidations" I don't think that is the issue here, because the Zestimate is $303K and amount owed is $157K. It must be due to the deficiency judgment, or realtytrac could have the incorrect info.

I went to the courthouse yesterday and searched the county records on the proper address of the property, as well as every possible misspelling of the owners' names. The only lien I found was from the HOA. There were several items recorded where the owner had paid off a mortgage and taken out a new one. I did not see any tax liens. My question is - would these be in the same place, or do I need to do a separate tax search? The clerks at the county were useless, and didn't seem at all interested in helping me.

One more question - do you all use realtytrac, get your info from the trustees' websites, or some other source of info?

Thanks!
Mariah

As far as I am aware, they do not have any records available online for Washington, Multnomah, or Clackamas Counties (with the exception being the City of Portland's Assessor).

I agree with Jon's suggestion to check out the local reia. It goes by the name NWREIA. There is also a Yahoo Groups message board.

Mariah: When you say that the clerks were useless, what county was that? I can only speak for the Multnomah County Recorders office, but as a green newbie myself, they were very polite and nearly insisted on helping me when I suggested that I'd figure it out myself.