Re: Question re buying from auction vs REO?

To be honest, in this market "cosmetic fixers" are going to be hard to come by if you are not a cash buyer. Things have changed with REOs and it's now in a lender's best interest to get the property at least FHA ready in order to set the highest price and make it available to largest pool of buyers. This is going to be especially true in the better neighborhoods. Or at least it is where I am.

You can go to the trustee's sale of properties you are interested in and see if the buyer ends up being 3rd party (instead of the lender). You can let them know that you want to buy it directly as-is. But I can tell you most of the trustee's sale buyers are not looking to flip a property property wholesale, especially to a buyer getting a loan that will probably fall through as most lenders won't let you buy as-is. Trustee sale buyers want to rehab it so they can sell it for max value or they want it at the right price as a buy and hold rental.

I don't know of any lender who will sell to you directly after the sale. Maybe a private lender. They are definitely worth getting in touch with before the sale.

You may want to consider buying a property that you like, at a price you can afford, taking into account the money you need to do the rehab. And just accept the fact that you will have to rip out the ugly new carpet and redo the paint and fixtures, etc. People do it all the time.