What does BANK OWNED mean in Charleston, SC Real Estate Market ?
Sounds simple, but how does a bank own a house ? 
It takes time to unfold, but it goes like this:
- Homeowner has a mortgage and occupies the home.
- Homeowner defaults on payments.
- Mortgage company (or bank) places a lein on property and turns file over to local Masters-in-equity.
- Masters-in-equity, a branch of the county government court system, conducts a public auction to sell the property. The auction is held at the county courthouse.
Often times, the bank buys the property back and then later sells the property as a bank owned property. Due to defective or clouded titles, caution must be used when buying a home from a courthouse auction.
My recent experience at the Charleston County Courthouse auction was that the banks who hold the mortgage were present to bid and to purchase the property. Within the first hour of the auction, thirty-five properties were auctioned. Bank representatives placed bids and bought all but three properties. In other words, only three houses of thirty-five were purchased by individuals.
So that's how a bank can own a house !!
Charleston, SC offers many bank owned homes.
To purchase a bank owned house in Charleston Real Estate market is a post for another day !
Comments(0)