Posted by Y… on September 16, 2003 at 13:31:07:
correction: ANYthing…sorry 
Dumb question…how to find…? - Posted by Y…
Posted by Y… on September 15, 2003 at 14:39:36:
Ok…I admit I am new to this. I am currently “newly” doing my homework here on how to invest in real estate. I have searched online for foreclosures and all the sites I find want you to subscribe “per month” which I don’t care for at all because they don’t look that great.
I checked online with the county I currently live in and all I find there are “auctions”. From what I understand w/auctions, there is no way to look at the property…its sold as is. Today I got a “Court Reporter” paper at the courthouse. It also shows properties that are going to auctions. The bank holding the foreclosure is listed but my assumption is once it goes to the auction block, they follow thru w/it? Is that a correct assumption? or can we contact the bank listed in this paper?
I currently have the CS program that I’m slowly working my way too…right now I’m reading “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Investing in Real Estate” so I am VERY much in the early learning process. I guess it would just help me if I could eventually see these properties. What am I missing here? Any and or all help is GREATly appreciated here.
thanks!
Y…
Re: Dumb question…how to find…? - Posted by Ronald * Starr*in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr*in No CA) on September 16, 2003 at 01:52:00:
Y…---------------
I suggest you read my article entitle “Is foreclosure investing for you?” in the money-making tips forum.
Good InvestingRon Starr****
Thanks Ron! I found one…! question… - Posted by Y…
Posted by Y… on September 16, 2003 at 06:36:01:
I read the article you suggested. To be honest, I think I missed a great deal of those articles so I have lots of catch-up to do. thanks!
I did manage to find a property but it has something that sort of worried me after reading the court records of the current owner. The house is going to auction early October. There are some back taxes owed. It does need some repairs done obviously (my partner and I checked it out personally) but overall it could be a GREAT house. Its on the auction block for 102K but w/work could be sold for 130K and probably gotten for 80K (those are strictly guesses, remember I am new at this). In the records however, it lists a “Jane Doe” wife for this guy (no known current address)? I searched thru a lot and no where does it state her name. Does this say to me that she could come back down the road somewhere and have some legal recourse after the house was sold?
thanks for all help,
Y…
Confusing post. - Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA)
Posted by Ronald * Starr(in No CA) on September 16, 2003 at 09:14:34:
J…----------------
There is probably no wife. There may be no wife. One of these statements may be true. The important thing is that there be no wife on title. No deed or other document related to property ownership that mentions a wife. And deeds would not have a “jane doe” on them, I believe. I don’t think a county records office would accept anything like that. But, I’m not an attorney and I’m not an employee of a records office.
You don’t mention what document you saw this on. My guess it is something like a judgment or a lawsuit against the owner. The “jane doe” reference is in there just to be sure that everybody is covered. Usually it does not mean that there really is a wife. Now maybe whoever drew up that document thought that their was some wife, but did not know the wife’s name. However, it is also possible that the person drawing up the name did not know if the person had a wife.
Here in CA, there is a “marriage index” maintained by the bureau of statistics of the Dept of Health or Dept of Vital Statistics. There one can look up the name of a person and see if that person was married in the state. The social security number of the person is included, if it is known. You might find something similar where you are, whereever that is.
“Its on the auction block for 102K but w/work could be sold for 130K and probably gotten for 80K… .” This statement makes no sense to me. If it is going to be auctioned off “for 102K” does that not mean that the minimum bid is $102K? If that is so, how could it possibly be “gotten for 80K”? Auctions don’t go backward, you know. They start at the minimum bid and go upward from there.
In many jurisdictions, the minimum bid for a tax sale is the back taxes, penalties, interest, and a share of the cost of the advertising of the sale, and costs of certified letters to the owner and other parties of interest–lenders and so on. The property is not offered for sale at less than that.
And who in his/her right mind would pay $102K for a property worth $130K that needs “work.” Certainly, you are not thinking of paying such a price for a property are you?
If there is a loan against the property, it may be that a lender will pay the delinquent property taxes at the last minute, pulling the propert off the sale. Does not happen all the time, but most of the time.
I have bought three houses on the Oklahoma state County tax resales that had loans against them, including one this year. Somebody even changed the locks on the house and last week mowed the lawn. Maybe the lender in action, preparing to foreclose. Even though the servicing company sent somebody past the place, saw my note stating that I am the owner by the front door with my name and phone number, called me to confirm what happened, and said that he would recommend that the lender forget this, they were too late. Last year it was the VA that screwed up and let me get a good property for a good price. Your government in action, losing money for you.
Good Investing*Ron Starr
Re: Confusing post. - Posted by Y…
Posted by Y… on September 16, 2003 at 13:03:58:
Ok Ron, the house is listed w/the sheriffs auction listing for 102K. If you are bidding thru the auction you have to bid no less than 2/3rds (according to the county I am in in Ohio) of the appraisal price (102K).
I would not want to buy AMYthing at an auction. I would rather contact the bank myself. This is how I came up with a purchase price of 80K and with some work it could be sold for probably 130K. It sits on a very NICE piece of property which the surrounding houses do not have. Did that make more sense?
Y…