How to Buy Property at Illinois Real Estate Auctions
If you have a bit of money on hand and want to invest in real estate, one of the best things you can do is to consider buying from Illinois real estate auctions. There are several wonderful real estate auction companies in Illinois that are excellent to contact when you are looking for property or real estate through auction. Before going through a real estate auction in the state of Illinois there are a few great tips that you should keep in mind.
The first thing you should do when you are interested in Illinois real estate auctions is to find a great auctioneer in the area. Many great real estate auction companies will list upcoming auctions for property on their websites or you can follow them on social media like Facebook for all the latest offerings. They will usually have a list of available properties, the date, time and location of the auction as well as the address of the property and starting bids. It is always a good idea to drive by a property if possible before considering a bid. Though there will likely be photos online, seeing a property in person can be very beneficial. As the date of the auction approaches, make sure the status has not changed as it is always possible that the owners might change their minds.
Research is always important when it comes to buying property at auction. Though the starting bid will be significantly lower than the market value in most cases, you do want to know exactly what the market value of the property is before you begin bidding. All of this information is public record and you will easily be able to get the information needed by contacting the city or county office that holds these records. It is very possible to get a bargain when you buy property at auction, but you won’t know if you are getting a bargain if you don’t know the value of the property. Additionally you will want to do some research concerning any liens against the property or other legal matters connected to the property. If you are the winning bidder and there is a lien, for instance, it is possible that you would be responsible for that.
Once you have found the perfect property and done your research, you should thing about what your bid amount should be. Some areas will require you to have your entire amount of sale in cash or cashier’s check at the time of sale, so you may need this money on hand before you will even be allowed to bid. If you do not have the cash, you may qualify for a cash loan, but you will, of course, need to secure this before the date of auction. Try to keep the bid amount, depending on your own cash reserves, at about 20% of the value of a property.
When you have all of the cash and information in order, you can bid at the auction. It is recommended to arrive early and relax as much as possible. Real estate auctions can be intimidating to first timers, so you may want to attend a few beforehand so you know how they work. Hopefully you will be the winning bidder at your auction, but if not, there will always be others. Keep an eye on the auctioneer’s website for new properties as they come in.
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