foreclosure and/or auctions

I buy sfh at foreclosure auctions all the time,there are good deals and bad deals. You need to know what you are doing when you go. Where do you live or plan to buy.

The type of auction is also important, because some you will have to pay all that day, some you need to pay 10%, and balance in 30 days.

We have bought several foreclosures at county auctions which are usually pretty slow paced & easy to follow. But now with just about all homes up-side-down this is fruitless, so we turned our purchases through REA that had REOs listed on MLS. This was better & we bought about a half dozen that way. Now it seems the banks won't deal as well on the pricing(at least in our area) so the last REO we bought through REDC auction; it was a super fast paced auction, selling about one property per minute. You have to on top of your game when bidding. Also, you need cash or to be pre-approved with financing through their banks.
We find that it's better to find more motivated sellers than the banks. People such as discussed landlords; divorce; probate/estates; or possible pre-foreclosures that still have equity.

I just stumbled upon this online website where bank owned properties are being auctioned off...has anyone done this? I see houses in my area on there where bidding can begin anywhere around 5K on up! I actually took down the address of 1 property and then looked it up in the MLS. The MLS even though the listing was expired it had pictures of it inside and out, and a description of the property. Looks like they renovated and then lost it. I am going to keep an eye on this property and see how the bidding goes. Anyway just thought I'd share this information.
Barbara

to the more experienced RE investors, or find an investor with whom you could go to an auction and observe and learn...

You can find great deals on condos right now through the MLS, including short sales and REOs... check out Zillow too...

wishing you success,

Valerie