Thursday Q & A - Your Maryland Real Estate Investing Questions Answered

Q:  How do I go about purchasing a home at auction?

A:  The first word that you need to think about if you are going to buy a property at auction is preparation.  For instance, if you're going to a foreclosure auction in the great State of Maryland, they happen at the courthouse steps, not at the property.  So you don't get a chance to go in the property to see it before you buy it.  In fact, you probably run the risk of great bodily harm or death if you go to the home.  If you go to someone's home to view it or ask questions, they're probably not going to be happy that you're trying to profit from their misfortune.

That being the case, in a foreclosure auction, there's plenty of due diligence to be done.  Here are just a few that I would do:

• What's sold in the area recently, and how it compares in age, square footage and condition
• You can find out how many mortgages the Seller has, because it may not be worth your while if they owe more than the value of the property.  In these cases, the bank usually takes them back.
• You want to find out if the taxes have been paid

This is a short list of a much longer list that I'll be blogging about over the next several weeks.  If purchasing a foreclosure property at auction is of interest to you, be sure to subscribe to this blog to follow the Thursday Q & A conversation.

And if you're an experienced investor, what diligence do you perform before an auction?