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Foreclosure Blues...New Tunes

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408

I have not been to the county foreclosure auction for some time, and today there was a very average condo-hotel unit in Fountain Beach Resort in Daytona Beach, and, knowing that nobody ever wanted to deal with condo-hotel units before, and the judgment was under $10K, we thought that we could get our client a bargain.

There was no mortgage; the foreclosure was brought by the Association. Of course, we checked anFountain Beach Resortd noticed that there were two years of taxes unpaid (about $1,500 total), and also, that the calculation for  the judgment was done in November, so Association fees plus legal fees since November until today could run another $2,000...  So, we figured that if we could get it for $15K, we would be OK.

There were only a few people in court. The room where they do foreclosure sales is a sizable room with a long table and chairs on both sides. Usually besides the lucky ones who grabbed the chair, people are sitting on the window sills, standing along the walls, and sitting on the floor.

What a dramatic difference from just a few months ago. There were 13 people in the room. Two of them were officers of the court conducting the foreclosure sale, two were representing the plaintiffs, and there were 7 of us, spectators, buyers....

Friday is Daytona area day.  If there are too many Daytona area properties for Friday, they would put others for Tuesday. Too many is when there are more than at least 35-40. There were only 2 properties (!) scheduled for sale for this Friday. What a difference from 30-40 properties just a few months ago.

One was a house with a $206K judgment. There was no interest and it went back to the Lender for a standard $100 bid. The other was this condo-hotel unit. To my big surprise, everybody was there for this unit.

The bidding started with one dollar over judgment amount and quickly escalated. After the bidding war between two guys seemed to be over and they counted two, another bidder jumped in, accompanied with a burst of laughter. It was sad and funny to watch the fight for what would have been not even noticed a few months back. I remember buying a direct oceanfront one-bedroom unit in Oceanside Inn, a condo-hotel resort in Daytona Beach Shores, for under $23K a few months ago and when I bid for it, everybody looked at me in surprise. They thought I was crazy. Today they were bidding on an inferior unit in Fountain Beach Resort...

I dropped out of the race at a bit over $15K and it was sold for $16,000. Still a good price, but no match for my previous purchases. For example, that unit in Oceanside Inn took about $11K from the Buyer to cover unpaid Association Dues and taxes, but it was sold for $76K. The profit was over $30K. Unit in Fountain Beach Resort today will be sold for low $30s, and it will take time and effort.

What a change. There is nothing to buy at foreclosure in Daytona area. The guys that made it a business and were just buying and selling are looking for other source of income.Picture of Jon Zolsky I love those phone calls that are asking me about foreclosures. They read the papers and listen to TV and they know that there are so many foreclosures here. Real Estate is local and at least here and at least now they are the thing of the past.

Comments (4)

Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

That sounds good for the future of real estate in Daytona.

Mar 26, 2011 05:24 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

That sounds good for the future of real estate in Daytona.

Mar 26, 2011 05:25 AM
Linda Papallo
Century 21 Access America Licensed in CT - Wethersfield, CT
860 221-8600, Your Wethersfield CT Realtor SFR, CDPE

Brighter days ahead for Daytona. Interesting topic.

 

Linda

Mar 26, 2011 05:36 AM
Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

Jon, it sounds like the foreclosures are working their way through the system and with less and less back soon to a normal market.

Mar 26, 2011 05:51 AM