this sort of thing really varies area to area, as it's based on legal code. here's how it works in my county:
1. house gets foreclosed
2. house is listed for at least 3 weeks by law in the newspaper for the foreclosure auction. here foreclosures are overseen by a special judge called the "master in equity". my local newspaper has a place online for foreclosure/MIE announcements. in the actual paper, they're usually listed towards the beginning of the classifieds with the other legal announcements (i.e. name changes, court dates, etc).
3. foreclosure auction is held once a month, 1st monday of the month. they start at about 11am and go through 150-200 properties in under 3 hours, so you have to come prepared to bid on a specific house. they go in the order they're published. when i went (and it was interesting!), it was standing room only when we got there at 10 minutes past. best to get there half an hour early.
4. the auction is open to the public. the holding bank and the current owner have the opportunity to buy the house before it's auctioned off
5. if you win the auction you have to have 5% down IN CASH or CASHIER'S CHECK that day. you have 30 days to come up with the rest of the money IN CASH or CASHIER'S CHECK, plus you will be charged interest on that balance for that 30 days. if you don't get the money in time, you lose your 5% and the house goes back through the newspaper/auction process.
as you can see from number 5, they don't play when it comes to taking your money and wanting their money almost immediately. if you don't have cash or access to a personal loan for cash, don't try it b/c it's almost impossible to get a bank to approve financing on a foreclosed house before the auction (since you aren't guaranteed access to inspect the house or have it appraised), and it's really easy to not get approved in time for financing after you've one the auction.
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04-18-2007, 04:07 PM
Does anyone happen to know?
