What are the different ways you can buy a foreclosure?

I wanted to know the different methods of obtaining a forecloures home… can you only buy them at an auction?

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    4 thoughts on “What are the different ways you can buy a foreclosure?”

    1. No.

      An auction is one way.

      However, most foreclosures are offered through Realtors. What happens is that the bank forecloses and now owns the house. At some point–after a month or a few months–they want to sell it. So they list it with a Realtor, and it goes into the MLS.

      Then, if you want to buy it–or any foreclosure–you go to a Realtor. He/she will search the MLS for properties that meet your requirements and you make an offer. The offer goes to the listing Realtor who then sends it to the lender, who decides whether to accept or reject your offer. It’s similar to the "regular" way you’d buy a property, except the seller is the bank, not an individual.

      There are also tax foreclosures. When taxes haven’t been paid on a property, the taxing jurisdiction (city or county) can foreclose. There are a bunch of different ways those jurisdictions sell the properties. Often, it’s at an auction once or twice a year. Sometimes there’s a redemption period, during which the former owner can pay those back taxes along with interest and penalties and reclaim the home. For information, contact your county or city tax department.

      Hope that helps.

    2. You can buy them at the Sheriff auction or you can buy them later when lender puts them up for sale.

      Most times the lender buys them at sherriff auction and then lists house for sale several months later with a real estate agent.

      Safest way to deal with this is buy them after bank buys it and cleans up title. You just have to wait several months for redemption period to expire.

      Alternative would be to buy it from borrower before foreclosure if bank will approve a short sale.

    3. Nope auction isn’t the only way.

      Ive linked you to a site that talks about this and also how to find foreclosed homes that you can purchase and methods of purchase too!

      Hope it helps you 🙂

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