Buying a Washington DC Foreclosure!
Posted by Ben Puchalski on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 10:07am.
4 Responses to "Buying a Washington DC Foreclosure!"
Ben Puchalski wrote:
Thanks for the comment Brian! When buying properties at auction you incur a lot of risk but the rewards are huge. It is not feasible to get financing unless you have access to the property(because a lender is going to want an appraisal to be done). You usually have to close on the property in 30 days. Auction properties do not allow for inspections also. Obviously if a foreclosure occurs and the property is taken back by the bank then you can do an inspection, get financing and close whenever you can. Most banks will allow 10 days for a general inspection. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Hopefully this helps. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 5:25pm.
Brian wrote:
Ben - I appreciate your prompt and helpful response, though a few details remain unclear to me. You say it is not feasible to get financing unless you have access to the property. Is it a hard rule that an auction never allows access to a property, or are there exceptions? If there were an exception, would accessibility noted in the announcement of the auction of a property or do you have to call the auctioneers to ask before the auction? Without such exceptions, it sounds like a buyer would need the full amount in cash - is that right?
You add that if a foreclosure occurs and the property is taken back by the bank then you can do an inspection. This seems to imply that auctions of foreclosures occur before a "foreclosure" :-)? Is that right? Or is it that the bank forecloses but does not take possession and submits the property to auction in cases of an auction?
Do banks advertise (on the MLS &/or newspaper) foreclosures for sale that are not sold through auction? In such cases, are you saying that bidders and their banks always have access to the property before closing? Can you give us any idea of what proportion of foreclosures go to auction vs. the proportion that is put on the market by a bank? Are there any general practices about which properties are handled which way? Are more expensive properties more likely to go to auction or to be sold by the bank?
Thanks for addressing all these details. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 6:38pm.
You add that if a foreclosure occurs and the property is taken back by the bank then you can do an inspection. This seems to imply that auctions of foreclosures occur before a "foreclosure" :-)? Is that right? Or is it that the bank forecloses but does not take possession and submits the property to auction in cases of an auction?
Do banks advertise (on the MLS &/or newspaper) foreclosures for sale that are not sold through auction? In such cases, are you saying that bidders and their banks always have access to the property before closing? Can you give us any idea of what proportion of foreclosures go to auction vs. the proportion that is put on the market by a bank? Are there any general practices about which properties are handled which way? Are more expensive properties more likely to go to auction or to be sold by the bank?
Thanks for addressing all these details. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 6:38pm.
Ben Puchalski wrote:
In a foreclosure auction you do not have access to the property. If you go and talk with the homeowner they may allow access. Rarely are you able to access a property prior to foreclosure unless you speak with the owner and they are agree to allow you access. Banks/auction co's/trustee's do not allow access. Right, most of the time the buyer pays cash.
The auction occurs before the actual foreclosure. The auction is the foreclosure. If no one buys the property at auction it becomes bank owned AKA REO(real estate owned).
Trustee's acting on behalf of banks are required to list the property in the newspaper. You can also find them on the trustee's website(see one's in blog). These properties are not advertised on the MLS. All properties go to auction. If they are not purchased by someone at auction they become bank owned. The majority of the properties that banks are foreclosing on have high loan to value ratio's so they usually get reverted back to the lien holder(the bank). If you look under the "sold" section on the Alex Cooper site you can get an idea of how many sell. Not many. Especially lately. Let me know if you have any questions. Trustee's should start foreclosing more now that the settlement has occurred. My bank owned inventory has been really low. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 10:16pm.
The auction occurs before the actual foreclosure. The auction is the foreclosure. If no one buys the property at auction it becomes bank owned AKA REO(real estate owned).
Trustee's acting on behalf of banks are required to list the property in the newspaper. You can also find them on the trustee's website(see one's in blog). These properties are not advertised on the MLS. All properties go to auction. If they are not purchased by someone at auction they become bank owned. The majority of the properties that banks are foreclosing on have high loan to value ratio's so they usually get reverted back to the lien holder(the bank). If you look under the "sold" section on the Alex Cooper site you can get an idea of how many sell. Not many. Especially lately. Let me know if you have any questions. Trustee's should start foreclosing more now that the settlement has occurred. My bank owned inventory has been really low. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 10:16pm.
Do some foreclosures allow inspections or viewings prior to auction day?
Thanks for any help you can provide with these questions. Posted on Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 3:20pm.