I want to buy a property for myself but don’t have time to attend all the auctions. Can I hire a company or bidder to do it for me? if yea what are the terms?
Kevin,
My suggestion would be to go down to the venue in your area where most trustee sales are conducted (e.g. the county “courthouse steps”) and observe. If you watch the “steps” action for four or five days (even better, a couple of weeks), you’ll learn who the regular bidders are. Most work in teams and they commonly have someone(s) they converse with during the auction via bluetooth or earpiece. Introduce yourself to a few and let them know that you’re looking to buy a home for yourself at the “steps” (trustee sale). Some will give you the brush-off or offer tales of woe (the legit risks that come with a trustee sale buy) … but others will be glad to share more info and insights. If you get the brush-off remember the old adage “SW squared” (some will, some won’t, so what … next). The steps vets may also know of someone local who they might recommend to assist you in bidding. Just as important (if not more important) than the bidding process, you need to have someone who can assist you with the research process (chain of title, liens, position of the loan going to sale, etc.). The bidder may be one in the same, but most pros use title company resources to help them w pre-sale research. The more information you arm yourself with, the better you’ll be able to judge the bidder/research pro you may eventually hire. Finally … steps buying can be high risk with high reward, and you need to determine whether you’re willing to accept the level of risk inherent in the process … if the answer is “no” … there are plenty of great short-sale and “bank-owned” buys out there. If the answer is “yes” … then go strait-away to the FR Learning Center and watch the FR Webinars > http://www.foreclosureradar.com/webinars
These FR tools/resources are invaluable
I would like to know how I check for liens, including IRS? Thaks
I usually agree w. D.B. - but not here. giving large sums of money to a stranger is asking for trouble.
There are a few reputable “agents” you could work with. Others you would want to stay away from.
What County are you looking at?
Hi Steve, You can find the link to the County Grantor/Grantee index in the property details page under Transaction History if you are a subscriber to ForeclosureRadar. You can use this index to look for IRS lien, reconveyances, subordinations and any other publicly recorded notice.
I was looking at LA county, and the area I want to live all the properties are either short sales or REOs. So I figured I’ll just go to an auction but I don’t have the time to all of them.
Hello Kevin, I know few reputable pros (ones you can trust in LA county, *they do LA, San Bernardino, Ventura county)… Give me a email or call at 626 589 8822 and i will introduce them to you… thank you. This is SImon Wu of Advantage Title… (i check for many investors for auction search everyday, FYI)
Hi Simon, I am investor and realtor. Do you do title / liens search for properties in Santa Clara county and Sacramento county? Thanks!
Do you have any recommendations for Contra Costa or Santa Clara County?