Yes, the word is definitely that the deals are back to the Courthouse. That usually means cash, no inspection and close in 15 to 30 days. There are Lenders, but you need 30% down and can only get a 5 yr note (my experience anyway). I don’t think Frankly shows non-mls transactions, but I could be wrong. These transaction can be found on county web sites. by searching various neighborhoods.

Your thoughts?

You have the most useful and most informative site for real estate in Northern Virginia!

Many of the properties are taken off the block at the last second (I’ve seen the auctioneer receive the call minutes before a scheduled auction). The trustee’s opening bid is often high enough so that no one bids on it. However, in Montgomery County, I would say that about one in 12 properties that actually makes it to be auctioned is bought. If the price does end up being low enough to entice bidders, you will likely be bidding against very experienced investors.

With all the dangers out there in purchasing a property in this manner, there are huge potential upsides. I saw a house that was in great condition (it was listed as a short sale up until about a week before the auction) go for 301K , and is now listed by the winning bidder at 530K about a month later. I went to an open house and he had probably spent under 2K

You would have to be very patient, and invest a lot of time to both examine the properties, and attend the auctions. The guys that are buying attend just about every auction.

Having been following this for a little while, it seems that with the DC area real estate market improving some, there have been less auction deals in the last month, then there were early in the year.

Q. Is it typically possible to view the property before the auction?

A. Nope. They usually have a very disgruntled owner or renter living there. Maybe if you bribe them with $50, but for the most part, you have to assume the worst. Watch out for trespassing.

Q What are the risks of buying from an auction (other than potentially wasting your time)?

A. You could write a book on the risks. Let me hit some.
1) See above, you can’t see inside the property.
2) You can’t inspect it.
3) Watch out for other Liens. You might pay $300k, but then there might be another $50,000 lien on it that you might be responsible for. You can pay a closing company a few hundred to do a title search or go to the courthouse and try to do your own search.
Honestly, I looked into this 2 years ago, and I never really understood why the 2nd lien wouldn’t necessarily be wiped out. SO all I can say is don’t mess with it, unless you understand that the price you are paying is the full amount, and no other responsibilities.
4) You have to bring a cashier’s check for about 10% cash.
5) 99% of homes sell back to the bank, so you would have to check out 100 homes to get 1, and that 1 won’t necessarily be some bargain basement price.

Basically until I go back again in a year or hear about people buying it from the courthouse steps, it just isn’t an option.

Q Once the price is determined, is there a difference between an auction purchase and a normal purchase?

Yes. All of the above. A normal purchase has more inspections, and you are buying it with a clean title.

Hope that answers your questions, to the best of my knowledge.