Experience with Cuyahoga County Sheriff Sales (Foreclosures) — Need Advice

[Mani Sundaresan]

I’m looking to connect with anyone who has direct experience purchasing properties through Cuyahoga County Sheriff Sales (Ohio) — particularly foreclosure auctions.

A few specific questions I’m hoping to get clarity on:

1. Has anyone here gone through the Cuyahoga sheriff sale process recently? I’d love to hear how it went — timelines, bidding process, and any lessons learned.

2. When you buy at a sheriff sale, is the property handed over vacant, or do you have to handle the eviction if it’s still occupied?

3. How do you verify the title before bidding? Should I involve an attorney ahead of time to check for liens, back taxes, or other encumbrances that might transfer with the property?

I’m trying to understand the full process and potential risks before making a move, so any personal experiences, advice, or recommended resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Ryan Arth]

@Mani Sundaresan In case no one else chimes in, I will give you my experience (albeit dated). We bought our first house at a foreclosure auction, many years ago. Do your own diligence on specifics though. 

1. Most of the properties on the docket get pulled, either in advance of the auction, or at the auction. So you had to preview and prepare offers for many properties that turn out to be a waste of time. You are normally bidding against the bank, who will bid it up to their mortgage amount and then stop. Minimum bid is 2/3 of appraised value. 

2. The property is handed over as-is. We had a couple living there who had convinced the previous owner that they purchased the property through some fake subject to nonsense, but then never made any payments. Likely the woman who was foreclosed on never even knew it was going on. We took over the property and then had to evict the "squatters". Thankfully it only took about a month, but they could have destroyed the house in the process. 

We had to put 10K down at the auction, closing on the balance a month later. The previous owner had a right to square up and get the property back within that period.

3. Title was supposed to be clean at the striking of the gavel. A lot of this was covered with a FAQ page on the sheriff's site.