Posted by David Krulac on November 12, 2000 at 08:46:18:
in Pa. its usually a year or more for the foreclosure process. It takes 3 or 4 months before the bank files the first notice. Then the foreclosure is scheduled for Sheriff Sale. In some counties they only have Sheriff Sales 6 times a year, other only 4 times a year. As a result its easy to miss the deadline for the next sale which can be 3 or 4 months.
In Pa the owner has until 1 hour before the sale to bring the payments up to date and stop the sale. Therefore getting the owners cooperation can be beneficial.
There are three different times to acquire the property, before the sheriff sale, you have a year to work with, at the sale, where they require cash some sheriff’s require 100% that day; or after the sheriff sale. At the sale which are usually pretty boring, there are a bunch of lawyers buying in the properties for their bank clients who hold the mortgages. Most but certainly not all foreclosed properties have little, no, or negative equity. My impression is that there are lots of buyers after the sale, next to nobody at the sales and only a few buying before the sale. What position do you want to be?