Well, sure. If you can track down the owner, you could make some sort of deal. The fact that the owner(s) have/has moved out suggestions somebody abandoning the property. One of the best prospects for a good deal for you.
If there is some junior lien against the person or house that you could buy, you could probably reinstate the foreclosing loan and do a foreclosure on your lien. However, other bidders might show up at your sale, so there is no guarantee you will get the house. If you can buy a junior at a discount and other bidders show up at your foreclosure, you will be reinbursed the full face value of the lien you bought and the advances to make the first whole. Probably. It is good to check with an attorney about that if the junior is not a regular deed of trust.
What would you do? - Trustee’s Sale in 3 weeks… - Posted by Patrick
Posted by Patrick on September 03, 2003 at 17:18:56:
Hi,
I’ve been farming my area for the last few months and came upon a house that has just been scheduled for a trustee’s sale in 3 weeks. The house was listed before on the MLS approximately a month for almost $370k (which was a decent price, FMV is $380-390k). House needs approximately 10k in cosmetic items. You could tell why I didn’t pursue it any further then. Fast forward to today, when I was driving by the house, I saw that there was a Notice of Trustee’s Sale on the front door. The house is vacant and I haven’t seen the owner there in about a month. Total amount of the unpaid balance for the sale is $235k. House is vacant, so assuming I find the owner, what would you do? Feel free to post multiple ways of going at this and maybe I could post a step by step account of the progress of this house here as time goes by…
Thanks a bunch!
Patrick
P.S. This would be my first encounter with a house this far along in the foreclosure process so would there still be a way to cure the back payments instead of paying off the entire balance?
You don’t mention the state. Every state has different foreclosure laws.
You don’t mention how much cash you have read to work with. Can you pay the bid amount or more? If not, what do you think you could do?
Do you know whether that is a first loan or now? If not, do you know how much is owed on senior obligations?
You might talke to the neighors and see if any of them knwo where the owner(s) is/are. ANd try to grack him/her/them down if there is any equity in the property.
If this is CA, the owner is no locger an occupant so you dont’ have to use the special home equity sales statute forms to tie up the property. Nor abide by the other rules of that law.
It is likely that other professional foreclosure buyers will show up when the opening bid is this much below the market value and the property is vacant. You might go to the sale to observe and try talking to some of the 40 thieves.
Posted by Patrick on September 03, 2003 at 18:03:30:
Hi Ron,
Thought you’d be one of the first to chime in. As far as your questions go:
Yes, it is CA. If I had to pay the 235k bid, then no, I don’t have that type of cash/financing available to work with. I was just wondering if it were still plausible to work with the occupant and maybe cure the back payments and work out some other deal with him if he demands some payment on his equity. Was thinking perhaps a sub2 then a l/o exit to a t/b within 1-2 months after I did the required cosmetic fixes. The loan is the senior loan with no other underlying liens. I already decided I’d attend the sale since I would treat it as a learning experience, if nothing else. Thank you very much for the quick reply.
Fast forward to today, when I was driving by the house, I saw that there was a Notice of Trustee’s Sale on the front door. The house is vacant and I haven’t seen the owner there in about a month. Total amount of the unpaid balance for the sale is $235k. House is vacant, so assuming I find the owner, what would you do? 
Feel free to post multiple ways of going at this and maybe I could post a step by step account of the progress of this house here as time goes by…