Auction.com???
Investor · Conroe, TX · Member since 2013 · 30 posts · 8 votes
Hello,
I'm new to BP and was just wanting to get some opinions.... Have any of you ever used auction.com to purchase foreclosures? I see postings from them it seems like everywhere and I just want to know if this is a good resource for investment properties.
Any advice will be helpful!
I've purchased most of my deals from Auction.com and here is my assessment:
Thanks.
Sorry for the delay. Yes, SWD will include title insurance. Most of my purchases where they said it was occupied the people had moved by the time the property closed. Good luck with your purchase!
Regarding Auction.com, I'm really trying to find out one simple thing: Do you have to purchase the property if there is bad title? Also will you get your EMD back? I can look up title through my county clerk's office, follow the chain of title and make sure previous mortgages were paid off. However, if it is a foreclosure, you would have to order a chancery abstract which costs a lot of money. There is no way you would do this unless you knew you were the winning bidder. So again, if the title is bad do you have to follow through, and will you get your EMD back? By the way, you would have to be crazy to use their title company. Title is not always cut and dry, what one title company will let slide another may not. If you spend the money and fix it up and there is a title problem brought up by the buyers, good luck with getting this big title company that works with Auction.com to give you the time of day.
IF you purchase a property that is in the category "Newly Foreclosed or Bank Owned", then you have the option of getting title insurance. Should you not be able to get clear title, you can get your EMD back and will not be penalized.
The "Live Auctions" are very different and are merely advertised Sheriff's sales, so yes, underlying liens go with the land.
@Jean Norton I have been declared the highest bidder on a property. They are sending me the paperwork and want me to wire the funds to their title company. How much more would it cost me to just use my own title company? I called a Local company here and they said they didnt deal with Auction.com ? Im waiting for a response from another local title company. Should i just use their closing company? i want to close as soon as possible. What do you suggest?
I usually use their suggested title companies but I must warn you it requires a lot of patience. On the times I've chosen a title company, just transferring the information is just as problem some. There is only One company they use in Texas that I will NEVER engage with, ever again. You can private message me with the title company they are using and I can let you know if I have any experience with them.
hi auction newbie,
- is it possible to participate in bidding administratively, while out of country, (if ofcourse i have the right boots on the ground locally)?
- do they just do a temporary hold on credit card to bid, and if I win I wire the 5% within 48 hours,
- and for title, must you do a title search before every bidding?
thx
@Matt Berklacy Because of a past nightmare I had with them... I would not trust them or their agents or their title companies on if they have any right at all to auction off a property. This includes if you have been shown the property by a real estate agent working with them.
Are there any semi-reliable ways of doing due diligence on the interior condition of one of these properties when the site says the property is occupied - do not disturb? The outside DD is relatively easy with a drive/walk-by, public records search, etc. I haven't seen any *legitimate* ways of assessing the inside. I haven't seen anything like a normal walkthrough that doesn't involve some type of impersonation or trick to get the occupant to open the door or being a peeping tom.
Is the mitigation for this risk to just assume the worst and keep bids low? I see properties listed with a minimum bit of $25k and an estimated ARV of $100k. It's hard to know if there is $25k of $100k of rehab and expenses apart from looking at the outside and public records.
My experience with Auction.com has been favorable when doing a live auction. They facilitate the trustee sales for many of the trustees here in AZ. The whole process is smooth and clear. They post title reports on each properties page so reasearch can be done ahead of time. They send me email alerts when 1 of the properties on my watchlist has been postponed. I used a hard money lender who was able to fund within 24 hours, and went through a title company (that I chose) to obtain title insurance. It was an easy and smooth process.
I have noticed that some of their online auctions in other states are tricky. Many of the properties are listed higher than they are worth due to the Trustee wanting to get what they are owed, instead of pricing it to the market. But a simple search on Zillow or other pricing tools can help you determine which properties are priced right.
You aren't able to enter the properties because these are foreclosures. Many of them are still occupied and will need to be dealt with after closing.
Im looking to bid on an house. Researched it alot and know they story behind it. It has a few liens from a local guy (which would be canceled out anyways) and then there is an IRS lien for $35K. Now in NYS, the attorney I spoke with he's never seen IRS use right redemption and feels that should be easy to remove as well. Anyone deal with this? should make for a good profit because it seems many are shying away due to that fear.
I have a love/hate relationship with Auction. The online bidding is hands down the best opportunity to make an aggressive purchase on a property without the wasted effort that goes into attending a judicial or sheriff auction. However, Auction is only interested in procuring a buyer and collecting earnest money and after that the process can be painful. I'm supposed to close on a property next Thursday that went under contract June 1 and its been pulling teeth to get the seller to the closing table. It's been that way for almost every property I've done through Auction.
It's been mentioned before, but I'll say again, get your own title insurance!!
I am in the process of buying a house on auction.com. I won the bid and the contract has been accepted by Wells Fargo. I was told it should close in 40 days after the contract is processed. If its late that is ok, it will be fixed then rented. Timing is not critical.
I did send the earnest money to their closing company and requested title insurance through my company. For anyone further along in the process, will their closing company coordinate this with my title insurance company, or do I need to get involved in the coordination?
Also, for anyone just starting the process, make sure you look at the homes in person.
In our search the first house we went to was in a very good neighborhood. The house has a very split foundation, the house is actually pulling into two pieces. The porch was filled in with foam on the 2 inch split through the cement, but it has pulled further apart since this filler was put in. Through the windows one can see the living room has 3 pieces or levels by looking at the mop board area and following the crack from the porch. The foundation is block and was spilt and filled in, but not repaired to prevent further movement. The house is beautiful looking, just a major problem. It is still listed.
The next house we saw had a 'not fit for human occupancy' notice on it from the County. The roof of the carport was falling is, and I suspect the roof and ceiling of the house as well. Someone put black paper over the window to prevent anyone from looking in. Also, the entire area forces the storm drainage to flow on this lot, it flows around the house, and this house may be moving too. This is in a very nice area and it's still listed too. Nothing on the listing says the house is condemned.
Another house had plants so grown over that one can not even get up the pathway to the front door. We assumed it was now vacant due to the vegetation, but on trash day trash was put out and someone is living there! We did bid on that house but someone else won.
So, really its buyer beware, some of the houses are very bad, and you can tell without entering them.
The house we bought looks ok from outside and through the windows, but the listing says extensive repairs are needed. So will be interesting to get in there, hoping it has wires and pipes:) The price is ok, even if it does not.
I want to add a bit of extra info here. I have bought properties previously through Hudson & Marshall and also Williams Auction, and with those you can set a proxy bid while the auction is happening. Proxy bidding is where you set your highest bid, and then the site bids automatically on your behalf up to your set max. You can go in at any time and increase your proxy bid.
Auction.com DOES NOT work that way. They only allow you to set a proxy bid amount BEFORE the auction starts. If you decide to increase your max bid after that auction starts, you may be bidding against yourself! I found this out the hard way yesterday and bid $4k more than I should have.
I much prefer Williams Auction since they do not allow banks to bid on their own property.
@Jean Norton - I am a newbie and still learning...in reading through some of the responses to this post, it seems that this is mostly a do-it-yourself ordeal in investigating title and ensuring that you have a great title company, along with some insurance, in case something goes south. Do you know if this is even possible in the New York, as I thought that there is a requirement for lawyers to be involved in the process in order to offer some level of protection for the buyer? Thanks for your time in advance!
@Michael Leung You have bought over 20 houses from them??? Were you comfortable with using the seller's title company if it's the most reputable one in the area?
@Jean Norton Hi Jean, I've been reading this entire thread through. My question regarding the clear title has to do with the liens exceptions list from auction.com They have this list:
"Most liens are removed after a foreclosure property sale, but certain liens may remain.Here are some examples:
Were you then able to get the title company to give you a title insurance with a title policy that covers these liens exceptions. It's not so much about clean title or not, I've been told by listing agent, seller's lawyer, and the title company that it's clean. But my concern has more to do with these liens exceptions listed on auction.com? Can I just the title company this list and even to pay more for each of these, to have them have coverage under the final title insurance?
@Bob Floss II Bob, the seller is using the most reputable title company in the area and our property is bank-owned/SWD, do I still have to get my own title insurance? if I communicate with this title company that here are the liens exceptions list from auction.com,
"Most liens are removed after a foreclosure property sale, but certain liens may remain.Here are some examples:
Nicely request coverage for these, even if paying more, and would there still be issues? Even if I chose my own title company, I would be choosing the same title company that the seller uses...so...
@Lynnette E. Hi Lynnette, I know this was 2 years ago. We are in process, from what I understand, you cannot go through their closing company and buy your own title insurance, if you want your own title insurance, you have to also pay for your own closing company in addition to your own title insurance/company. so there is double for the closing company and title insurance. and in order to do this, you have to first have a conversation with the seller's closing and if it's amicable that it can be done co-operatively, then the contract has to be amended and then the seller's closing signs the corrected contract, but both closing companies are always on the contract in that case. Was this how it happened? Did you have an issues with the title? with the liens exceptions list from auction.com?
"Most liens are removed after a foreclosure property sale, but certain liens may remain.Here are some examples:
Ours is bank-owned/SWD.
Yes, I had to get my own title company to do the escrow and close too.
auction.com is saying with their list of liens that if those items exist the buyer is to pay to clear them. Your title co can tell you if they exist and how much they are.
@Lynnette E. Thank you for the info, we will get in touch with the title company right now and see if they exist and how much they are...I believe what you mean by how much they are (if additional liens exist) is for you to pay additionally to the title co to clear each of them - if any exist; not how much the liens are correct?