Now and then someone will ask me, “What’s a trustee sale like?”
Trustee Sales or Foreclosure Trustee Sales in Alameda County are held at 1225 Fallon St. Oakland CA Monday through Friday from noon to 2 pm.
It’s another real estate market, the last step in the foreclosure process.
The investors gather at the courthouse steps. The auctioneer calls out the properties and begins the bidding. It’s hard to hear the auctioneer but the investors can hear him just fine. The buyers are savvy investors resembling a group of Vegas gamblers. In a sense they are gambling, and they are addicted to the thrill of the auction.
The investors walk around with their papers letting no one see their numbers. Their homework done, they mill around waiting for the right deal. Each one has a way of checking out the properties. Some subscribe to special research services. These guys are serious. Many of them have been doing this for 10 to 20 years.
Most of the properties go back to the bank. The bidders know what’s a good deal, and it’s all about the bottom line. If they don’t get something today, they’ll be back tomorrow.
You need to bring cashier’s checks in denominations of ten thousands and twenty thousands. How would you feel carrying a load of cashier’s checks in Oakland?
For most buyers this market is not an option. It takes guts to plunk a hundred or two hundred thousand dollars on a house you know very little about, and once the bid is accepted the buyer can’t back out…not with the deposit anyway.
For curiosity, it’s good to see the trustee sale process, but I don’t recommend it for rookies or for people with low tolerance for risk.
On a side note, just this past month in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, three investors pled guilty to collusion and twenty other ones will be indicted by the FBI for participating in private auctions. Kind of paints a dark picture, doesn’t it?
How can I help an investor? By giving my opinion as to whether or not it’s a good deal and an idea of resale value.
Comments(1)