Yesterday 10/17, an associate and I attended a www.HudsonandMashall.com auction for foreclosed homes in the SF Bay Area. What an experience!!
I grew up in middle Ohio and my dad had an auction house, selling antiques and estates via auction. In fact the building is still there, full of stuff...another story for another time! The excitement of sitting through your first auction, no matter what it is, gets your heart pumping and eyes glazed.
Yep, that is what happened to Jenny, my associate! When the caller began, I looked at her...I have never seen eyes so wide, darting from here to there, trying to figure out what the heck the guy was saying and how did that house get sold so fast?
Hudson and Marshall are holding auctions through out Northern Calif this past week and weekend. You can go to their website to collect tons of information.
What a wonderful opportunity for us Realtors to educate our buyers on how an auctions works, what to expect, hold their hand, and earn some money!!
Marshall and Hudson was extremely professional, making the process "buying a foreclosed home at an auction for dummies" easier than one might think. These homes have already been on the market with Realtors (and still are) until the transaction is closed. Soooo looking at the properties, checking them out, really checking them out is imperative. Know what you are getting into ahead of time.
IF your dream home does not go into escrow before the auction, proceed to auction, bring 5% down or $2500, whichever is more (cashiers check), when your home comes up, be ready for action as it will be sold in about 2-3 minutes. Be ready to go into the contract room, complete the paperwork, no contingencies, and close in 30 days. There is a 5% buyers premium so the price you bid on and received will be higher, your actual sales price will be 5% above that - for example, $100,000 is the winning bid, sales price is $105,000. Important...financing must be in order. Also you may not know until later if the bank will accept the bid. Sometimes the auction caller will say this will be sold today no matter what price. Some banks do have a threshold and may put the home back on the market with the agent if they do not get the price they want.
I know I made this seem simple. Like anything else preparation and education is the key. Talk to a trusted Realtor to guide you through the process. As Realtors, if we register our clients, we can get a 2% commission. Not hard to do, folks.
Fantastic Values were bought yesterday! Our mortgage partner would comment, wow, with that price (using her mortgage calculator) and the rental going rate...in today's world in California, one might just have a positive cash flow!!
Build your wealth! Hey Bidder, Bidder Bidder!!
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