1st Time at City Hall Foreclosure Sale

Aaron ZimmermanBusiness Member

Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

9mo

This is great info! Thank you for sharing this. Always interesting to see how to get deals

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Lee Burns

Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 337 posts · 164 votes

9mo

Thanks for the post! I like your insights and background so I sent a follow on BP and LinkedIn

1 Reply

Elizabeth Pyle
OP
Realtor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 34 votes
9mo
@Lee Burns Thanks! Accepted it!
1 Reply

Matt Sondgeroth

New to Real Estate · Lafayette, IN · Member since 2019 · 13 posts · 8 votes

9mo

Is this the norm? My area has gone to online auctions, which I assumed is standard now. These are still happening in a face to face setting?

0 Reply

Erika Carter

Residential Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 155 posts · 42 votes

8mo

Good info! Thanks for posting!

0 Reply

Mike Kirby

Rental Property Investor · New Braunfels, TX · Member since 2021 · 290 posts · 257 votes

8mo

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.

So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8mo
Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.
So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

having bought court house steps for years I have encountered all these type of scenarios. The one were you dont bring certified funds does really blow up the competing bidder.. I won a small development deal in Oregon because of that exact same thing. the other bidder was Hey wait i will run to the bank.. NOPE.

some lawyers when there is some gamesmanship going on might call out an obscure location to cry the sale.. i won one that way as well. when U do it for a living you always know to call the trustee or sherrif or whoever is crying the sale a few days before exact location and rules of the sale.

Out here in CA OR WA NV its FULL cashiers check at the sale. bidders would get twisted up with this when the bid went up and they did no realize if they gave say 500k in cashiers checks but won it for 475k you WILL get the 25k back :)
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JLH Capital Partners51 Review
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1 Reply
Mike Kirby
Rental Property Investor · New Braunfels, TX · Member since 2021 · 290 posts · 257 votes
8mo
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.
So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

having bought court house steps for years I have encountered all these type of scenarios. The one were you dont bring certified funds does really blow up the competing bidder.. I won a small development deal in Oregon because of that exact same thing. the other bidder was Hey wait i will run to the bank.. NOPE.

some lawyers when there is some gamesmanship going on might call out an obscure location to cry the sale.. i won one that way as well. when U do it for a living you always know to call the trustee or sherrif or whoever is crying the sale a few days before exact location and rules of the sale.

Out here in CA OR WA NV its FULL cashiers check at the sale. bidders would get twisted up with this when the bid went up and they did no realize if they gave say 500k in cashiers checks but won it for 475k you WILL get the 25k back :)
The guy I was bidding against told the auctioneer, let’s start over, so he won at the first bid. The other bidder was really cool to me. My wife and I went to the house that he won with him. He paid $135,000, it was worth $280,000. The entire house was furnished, there were jars of change on the kitchen counter. The closets were full of men and women’s clothes, and there was a perfectly functioning pool in the backyard.

I’ve had my cashiers checks at every auction since then!
2 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8mo
Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.
So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

having bought court house steps for years I have encountered all these type of scenarios. The one were you dont bring certified funds does really blow up the competing bidder.. I won a small development deal in Oregon because of that exact same thing. the other bidder was Hey wait i will run to the bank.. NOPE.

some lawyers when there is some gamesmanship going on might call out an obscure location to cry the sale.. i won one that way as well. when U do it for a living you always know to call the trustee or sherrif or whoever is crying the sale a few days before exact location and rules of the sale.

Out here in CA OR WA NV its FULL cashiers check at the sale. bidders would get twisted up with this when the bid went up and they did no realize if they gave say 500k in cashiers checks but won it for 475k you WILL get the 25k back :)
The guy I was bidding against told the auctioneer, let’s start over, so he won at the first bid. The other bidder was really cool to me. My wife and I went to the house that he won with him. He paid $135,000, it was worth $280,000. The entire house was furnished, there were jars of change on the kitchen counter. The closets were full of men and women’s clothes, and there was a perfectly functioning pool in the backyard.

I’ve had my cashiers checks at every auction since then!

out here on the west coast that would be a unicorn.. competition quite keen there is always 10 to 15 investors or groups that snag 90% of the deals.
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
0 Reply
Mike Kirby
Rental Property Investor · New Braunfels, TX · Member since 2021 · 290 posts · 257 votes
8mo
Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.
So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

having bought court house steps for years I have encountered all these type of scenarios. The one were you dont bring certified funds does really blow up the competing bidder.. I won a small development deal in Oregon because of that exact same thing. the other bidder was Hey wait i will run to the bank.. NOPE.

some lawyers when there is some gamesmanship going on might call out an obscure location to cry the sale.. i won one that way as well. when U do it for a living you always know to call the trustee or sherrif or whoever is crying the sale a few days before exact location and rules of the sale.

Out here in CA OR WA NV its FULL cashiers check at the sale. bidders would get twisted up with this when the bid went up and they did no realize if they gave say 500k in cashiers checks but won it for 475k you WILL get the 25k back :)
The guy I was bidding against told the auctioneer, let’s start over, so he won at the first bid. The other bidder was really cool to me. My wife and I went to the house that he won with him. He paid $135,000, it was worth $280,000. The entire house was furnished, there were jars of change on the kitchen counter. The closets were full of men and women’s clothes, and there was a perfectly functioning pool in the backyard.

I’ve had my cashiers checks at every auction since then!

out here on the west coast that would be a unicorn.. competition quite keen there is always 10 to 15 investors or groups that snag 90% of the deals.
Trust me, that’s the way it has been here the last few years. Mainly one guy who has deep pockets and is willing to push the prices beyond my safety level.
1 Reply
Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
8mo
Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mike Kirby:

Quote from @Elizabeth Pyle:

I'm the owner of 25 residential doors in Chicago. I offered on a 6 unit building that went into foreclosure while the property was listed for sale. I contacted the bank that took the property back and I coincidentally have a loan with them. Even with the current banking relationship, they were required to do the foreclosure sale. I found the sale on the Cook County website. Here is what I learned from going to the sale:

1. You have to bring 10% of the auction sale price in cash/wire/certified funds the day of the sale.

2. Within 24 hours of the auction sale, you have to pay the remaining 90% in cash/wire/certified funds. ie no time for loans or due diligence

3. The auction was held in a hallway (not a courtroom) in the basement of City Hall. It was very difficult to find and no one working there could give accurate directions. The actual auction took about 30 seconds so if you were late, searching for the location, you would have missed your opportunity to bid.

4. It was not well attended. Only me and one other person who was not a buyer but trying to learn about foreclosures. The bidding started at $1 above the reserve price that the bank had set.
So did you buy it? What is it worth and what did you pay?
At my first auction at the court house steps in 2016 there were only two bidders. Myself and another guy. After each of us had bid once, the auctioneer said you do have your cashiers checks with you right? I only had my business account checkbook🙃 Lesson learned the hard way!

having bought court house steps for years I have encountered all these type of scenarios. The one were you dont bring certified funds does really blow up the competing bidder.. I won a small development deal in Oregon because of that exact same thing. the other bidder was Hey wait i will run to the bank.. NOPE.

some lawyers when there is some gamesmanship going on might call out an obscure location to cry the sale.. i won one that way as well. when U do it for a living you always know to call the trustee or sherrif or whoever is crying the sale a few days before exact location and rules of the sale.

Out here in CA OR WA NV its FULL cashiers check at the sale. bidders would get twisted up with this when the bid went up and they did no realize if they gave say 500k in cashiers checks but won it for 475k you WILL get the 25k back :)
The guy I was bidding against told the auctioneer, let’s start over, so he won at the first bid. The other bidder was really cool to me. My wife and I went to the house that he won with him. He paid $135,000, it was worth $280,000. The entire house was furnished, there were jars of change on the kitchen counter. The closets were full of men and women’s clothes, and there was a perfectly functioning pool in the backyard.

I’ve had my cashiers checks at every auction since then!

out here on the west coast that would be a unicorn.. competition quite keen there is always 10 to 15 investors or groups that snag 90% of the deals.
Trust me, that’s the way it has been here the last few years. Mainly one guy who has deep pockets and is willing to push the prices beyond my safety level.

In about 2013 ish 2014. we had a great run in Atlanta suburbs.. sales there are once a month and you would have hundreds of properties being sold each sale. And on top of that there might be 5 to 10 different Cryers there all crying sales at the exact same time.. It was pretty wild figuring out who had the file you wanted to bid on.. We got some screaming deals I remember one brand new construction I got for about 50k.

Well fast forward one year later all of a sudden these kids ( I call them kids since I am a grandpa) with back packs full of cashiers checks bidding for hedge funds and they blew us all out of the water and starting buying darn near everything.

Over in Clark County WA ( Vancouver) there is a local there that has a cabal about 10 guys he is the main one but in the morning of the sale who ever wants to participate shows up for breakfast lets him know how much cash they have liquid.. This guy had the ability to get cashiers checks for most everything they want ( millions) And same thing the only one other than them that was getting a property was simply one that they did not want to buy. They would also over bid to just run people off.

In some markets you had major collusion going on good ole boy net work.. I give you 1k or 2k and I wont bid thats collusion and very illegal. There was a group in NC indited by FBI on that one. Major fines and small jail time.

Its a business like any other cut throat to the max.. Your not going there to make friends generally speaking

And then of course the newb that did not know they just bid on a second.. Thats always a shocker for them when they figure out that house has zero equity and they now have to pay on the first or lose 100% of what they bid.
Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
Website View Page
1 Reply

Bo SmithPro Member

Hinton, WV · Member since 2026 · 1k+ posts · 375 votes

8mo

The 24-hour cash requirement kills most people, but that's the opportunity. Pro tip: some hard money lenders will pre-approve you for auction scenarios if you've got deals under your belt. Have you looked into pooling cash with other investors for these?

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1st Time at City Hall Foreclosure Sale

1st Time at City Hall Foreclosure Sale

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