Foreclosure Auctions Have Become More Familiar Nowadays
By Kevin Simpson

Gone are those days when the term "foreclosure auctions" was of any interest to only professionals in the Real Estate field. When the US Real Estate business was trotting on even keels smoothly for so long, nobody bothered about foreclosure auctions, which were very few in number. Now the foreclosure fiasco engulfing the Country and spreading to all towns and villages has made foreclosure properties very widely understood. It is said by experts that 50 to 60% of prospective home buyers are eager to know at least the formalities of buying foreclosed properties and are willing to consider them.

Foreclosure auctions are inevitable part of the foreclosure process to dispose off the delinquent properties. The foreclosure laws of the respective State govern the procedures to be followed - either a judicial process or non-judicial process or both. In the judicial process, lenders file a law suit against the defaulted home owners to recover the dues of mortgage loans. They have to undergo the legal proceedings in the County Court from sending Notice of Law suits (Lis pendens) to transfer of title of the concerned property by the Court to the highest bidder in the public auction. Normally the Sheriff or his proxy conducts the foreclosure sale public auction at the proverbial "Courthousesteps". The entire proceedings will eventually drag on for months together to get completed.

The non-judicial process of foreclosure is rather quick to send a Recorded Notice of Default (after recording it in the Recorder's office) by the lender to the barrower and will be finished by a Trustee Sale public auction, at the venue to be intimated in the Notice. Most lenders prefer it this way by inserting a clause in the mortgage agreement.

In both the above cases of public auction, the procedures are more or less the same. The lender prescribes the opening bid, which is what the outstanding balance due on the delinquent property, with interest and foreclosure expenses added. Bidders are expected to make a higher bid than the opening bid. If there is a highest bid on the property, that bidder gets the title of the property, subject to redemption of the property after paying all dues by the home owner within a time frame, if so permitted by the foreclosure laws. If no bidder comes forward to bid more than the minimum bid, the lender repossesses the property for eventual resale in the open market.

The revolutionary change coming into the concept of these foreclosure sale public auctions is they are conducted online, by the Trustees and interested buyers can bid for the property online, saving the hassle of commuting and being present at the auction venue.

Home buyers and investors need to take some precautions if they want to take part in these public auctions. A thorough research about the property to assess the fair market value is needed, so that a meaningful bid is made. It is equally true that by a cautious and strategic approach, thousands of dollars can be saved in acquiring foreclosure properties through these foreclosure auctions.

Search foreclosure sale by state or get more information on foreclosure sale at ForeclosureRepos.com

Kevin Simpson, GM Sales & Marketing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Simpson
http://EzineArticles.com/?Foreclosure-Auctions-Have-Become-More-Familiar-Nowadays&id=2509077

Kevin Simpson
June 22, 2009

 ↑ Back to Top