Newbie looking for answers/advice in northern CA market

Foreclosure Investing
1

Hi All

First off this website is awesome, i remember about a year ago when i got into this and was using Realty trac to get an idea. It didn’t make sense when my friends were buying during the housing bubble so i stayed out and rented. Now I’ve got 200-300K in cash lying around and I’m looking for some advice in investing and playing around in the market.

From the 3 stages of the foreclosure process that are all shown on Foreclosure radar which one has the most potential and highest success rate and which ones should i put my effort and energy into? REO shorts sales or buying at an auction?

From my own limited judgement looking at REO’s are a waste of time as they have to be listed by the bank through a realtor and onto the MLS before i can make a move. Is this so?

I personally think buying at an auction is the best move however when I’m looking at some properties (San Joaquin valley) most of the published bids are higher than what the property is worth. Is it still worth tracking those and what are the chances of the price being lowered at the auction? If a property is scheduled to go to auction and a date has been sent is it wise to call the lender or the trustee to get an idea?

Sorry for the long post, i am a newbie and looking to get a move on and thank everyone in advance for the responses.

Regards

2

Buying at auction is the best opportunity at the moment, but it is also the riskiest, so enter that market carefully. REO’s tend to sell for full market value so while they can be a good low risk source if you want to buy and hold rentals, they offer little opportunity to flip right now in most of CA.

Most properties will have their published bid lowered before going to sale - the opening or “drop” bid. One of the hardest parts of investing at auction at the moment is figuring out which properties to research when you have no idea whether the opening bid will be lowered enough to make it worthwhile. Just part of the deal.

You’ll find a ton of info in this forum, and if you are going to head down to the auctions be sure to trade in your training wheels and upgrade to ForeclosureRadar.com. :slight_smile: It’s the only service that will keep you up to date on the auction activity.

3

Hello,

If you’re still looking for guidance and are just beginning to get your feet wet I would like to chat with you. Our company is currently investing in multiple properties a month from the foreclosure auctions and we are looking for people like you to invest with us. Fell free to give me a call.

Thomas - (707) 249-8706