Re: Trustee Sale Opening Bids and Researching Properties

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Re: Trustee Sale Opening Bids and Researching Properties
Posted by LarryG on December 13, 2009 at 3:56 PM
In Reply to: Trustee Sale Opening Bids and Researching Properties posted by Justin on December 07, 2009 at 11:47 AM
: Hi Everyone,
: I will be taking Wards foreclosure training next week.
: I've been doing quite a bit of research in regards to trustee sales and have a few "basic" questions...
: 1) Is there a way to know the opening bid at the trustee sales so you can know which properties to research? I know Foreclosure Radar has some of the opening bids listed, but there are very few. Or do you just research all of them and see what the opening bid is when you show up?
: 2) Since most of the sales get postponed prior to the auction when is the best time to research them so that you have time to do your research, but don't waste a lot of time either? A couple days before the sale date? Then double check to make sure the sale is still on the day of the sale?
: If anyone could make a list of the order of which and when they do things in regards to trustee sales that would be very helpful.
: Thanks!
Hello Justin: I am retired computer programmer, past real estate broker and real estate title searcher and have been following foreclosures religiously for about 4 years now. Over that time, trial and error have taught me the following:
1) First, design a form where you can note key information of each foreclosure listed. Mine includes date/time of sale, name of mortgage holder, date/recorded id of mortgage, $amount of mortgage, address of property, trustee holding sale, trustee contact info, opening bid, notes.
2) Some of this info is not available from the foreclosure listing. The opening bid, as you know, will not be listed. The property address will often not be listed. $Amount of the mortgage will not be listed. This is all filled in with research.
3) DO NOT START ANY RESEARCH until a week before the sale. As you know, most are often cancelled or postponed so it is a waste of your time.
4) AT THAT TIME, you can get the address by calling/visiting the county tax office based of the mortgage name. Is the property well located or looks of interest? (THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM WITH FORECLOSURES IS THAT YOU CAN SELDOM SEE THE INSIDE TO SEE IF IT HAS BEEN TRASHED/STRIPPED OF VALUABLE HOUSE PARTS!)
5) If it looks of interest, contact trustee (call and/or look at their web site) to see if they have an opening bid on it?
6) If the opening bid looks interesting or an open bid not available, continue research.
7) Go to county recorder's office and lookup $amount of mortgage. Why? It will tell you what a bank thought the property was worth at the time. If it is a low amount, it COULD mean it is a 2nd mortgage (danger!) foreclosure.
8) Contact the trustee again to see if they now have an opening bit??
9) If still of interest, you must dig into the legal history of the property further at the recorders' office. Have all prior mortgages been paid off (released)? Are there any liens (state or federal income tax, city fees, Home Owners Assn, etc) against the property?
10) Contact the trustee again to see if the sale is on schedule, how you have to make payment (full cash/10% deposit/Wire) and
if they now have that damn opening bid!!
This is all time-consuming work and most (90%) of the foreclosures will be cancelled or postponed. Also, of the remaining 1 out of 10 that go to sale, 70% of those will not be worth the opening bid and there will be no bidders (or bad judgement bidders). Of the few remaining that might be worth bidding on, there will often be other bidders that will pay more than you want bid.
This game of cashing in on foreclosures is TOUGH to win at.
I think I have taught you in this brief outline a lot of what you will hear about at Ward's. If you lived in my county I could show you in detail how to do this in one day but then you would be a competing bidder!!
If you learn some really "secret knowledge", please share it with me. Good Luck.

Follow Ups:

Re: Trustee Sale Opening Bids and Researching Properties Question 12:03 AM, 12/14/09 (1)

Great way to estimate DOT seniority ? ! I like # 7 the best! Which one do you like? 8:25 PM, 12/14/09 (0)

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Name : E-Mail : Subject :
Comments: : : Hi Everyone, : : I will be taking Wards foreclosure training next week. : : I've been doing quite a bit of research in regards to trustee sales and have a few "basic" questions... : : 1) Is there a way to know the opening bid at the trustee sales so you can know which properties to research? I know Foreclosure Radar has some of the opening bids listed, but there are very few. Or do you just research all of them and see what the opening bid is when you show up? : : 2) Since most of the sales get postponed prior to the auction when is the best time to research them so that you have time to do your research, but don't waste a lot of time either? A couple days before the sale date? Then double check to make sure the sale is still on the day of the sale? : : If anyone could make a list of the order of which and when they do things in regards to trustee sales that would be very helpful. : : Thanks! : Hello Justin: I am retired computer programmer, past real estate broker and real estate title searcher and have been following foreclosures religiously for about 4 years now. Over that time, trial and error have taught me the following: : 1) First, design a form where you can note key information of each foreclosure listed. Mine includes date/time of sale, name of mortgage holder, date/recorded id of mortgage, $amount of mortgage, address of property, trustee holding sale, trustee contact info, opening bid, notes. : 2) Some of this info is not available from the foreclosure listing. The opening bid, as you know, will not be listed. The property address will often not be listed. $Amount of the mortgage will not be listed. This is all filled in with research. : 3) DO NOT START ANY RESEARCH until a week before the sale. As you know, most are often cancelled or postponed so it is a waste of your time. : 4) AT THAT TIME, you can get the address by calling/visiting the county tax office based of the mortgage name. Is the property well located or looks of interest? (THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM WITH FORECLOSURES IS THAT YOU CAN SELDOM SEE THE INSIDE TO SEE IF IT HAS BEEN TRASHED/STRIPPED OF VALUABLE HOUSE PARTS!) : 5) If it looks of interest, contact trustee (call and/or look at their web site) to see if they have an opening bid on it? : 6) If the opening bid looks interesting or an open bid not available, continue research. : 7) Go to county recorder's office and lookup $amount of mortgage. Why? It will tell you what a bank thought the property was worth at the time. If it is a low amount, it COULD mean it is a 2nd mortgage (danger!) foreclosure. : 8) Contact the trustee again to see if they now have an opening bit?? : 9) If still of interest, you must dig into the legal history of the property further at the recorders' office. Have all prior mortgages been paid off (released)? Are there any liens (state or federal income tax, city fees, Home Owners Assn, etc) against the property? : 10) Contact the trustee again to see if the sale is on schedule, how you have to make payment (full cash/10% deposit/Wire) and : if they now have that damn opening bid!! : This is all time-consuming work and most (90%) of the foreclosures will be cancelled or postponed. Also, of the remaining 1 out of 10 that go to sale, 70% of those will not be worth the opening bid and there will be no bidders (or bad judgement bidders). Of the few remaining that might be worth bidding on, there will often be other bidders that will pay more than you want bid. : This game of cashing in on foreclosures is TOUGH to win at. : I think I have taught you in this brief outline a lot of what you will hear about at Ward's. If you lived in my county I could show you in detail how to do this in one day but then you would be a competing bidder!! : If you learn some really "secret knowledge", please share it with me. Good Luck. :

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