Rock Hill, SC · Member since 2012 · 1 post · 0 votes
Hello,
I went to last months foreclosure auction. Some people knew if a property was going to go back to Freddiemac, (they always take their loans back), what the minimum bid was going to be, and possibly if the bank was going to declare a deficiency (not allowing anyone to bid; the property will be sold next month at the stipulated minimum bid).
Okay, how do I find out the same?
It's important to know what I will be able to buy and which properties I definitely can not. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Well it depends on the county and who knew this information.
In very active counties, like Cook where I am, there are 3rd party information services who publish this type of information to subscribers.
Some of that info can be gotten from public records yourself. Most of the time, the minimum bid is the total amount owed the lender which is in the public filing. If they knew the minimum bid was going to be significantly less than the amount owed, this is not in the public record and is usually only known at all the day before the auction.
Sometimes if it is a sheriff Sale the sheriff will publish this info on their website.
Mostly though, in more rural areas you can't get this info.
Remember, lenders often have reps at auctions so the people who knew could have been attornies or reps connected to the case.
Sometimes, you need to do some snooping over shoulders at the auction to see where they get their info, sometimes you can just ask them or ask the auctioneers after the auction where to get this info in advance.
Buyers can find out about auctions through experienced real estate agents, online research or contacting auction houses directly. HUD homes can be found on a special website in each state. Of course, auctions that are going to happen on the courthouse steps can often be found out by looking in the legal newspaper at the foreclosure listings each month.