I’ve noticed a majority of the properties don’t show an opening bid. Is there anyway to obtain this information or is it simply not made available by the foreclosing lender in most cases?
Some lenders opt to post the opening bid in advance (a day or two and occasionally a week or so in advance) and others quite late … just hours before the auction and sometimes literally at last minute. Why is posting bids seemingly so arbitrary and arriving at the discount (or “full debt bid” as the case may be) amount such a mystery wrapped up in a conundrum? That would take a few pages to outline but, as luck would have it, there a good explanation contained in the FR webinar Legal Docs Delaying Tactics and Scandals > http://www.foreclosureradar.com/webinars
Last minute bids can prove to be an advantage … sometimes a major advantage … for those who have done their homework. I prefer a “last second” opening bid as many investors don’t bother to show up for an auction unless their target property has an opening bid is posted at least 3 or 4 hours before. When a bid comes up only minutes before an auction (w ample equity left in the property) you may have fewer steps competitors and therein lays the opportunity.
good to know, thank you for the response.
Many times there isn’t an opening bid until AFTER the scheduled sale time. You will often see auctioneers waiting for up to an hour to get instructions on a few of the days sales. 90% of the time they are postponed. Every once in a while the auctioneer will get an opening bid and instructions to finally conduct the sale.
miketh is absolutely right … it’s often a waiting game at the steps … the auctioneer (aka crier) will tell everyone assembled that they’re “still waiting on a file” and they’ll typically give everyone the property address which has yet to get formal clearance from the trustee to “go to sale.” On more than a few occasions this delay can last 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 or more minutes. This can be exasperating for the assembled and certainly also for the auctioneer who may have another venue to get to, or additional postings to complete … But protocol requires that the auctioneer stay until they get a formal clearance to sell or a postponement (which they must announce). Sometimes this delay will cause attrition by investor/attendees who lose patience or simply need to be elsewhere. It would be nice to be the last one standing (e.g. 35 minutes after the scheduled auction time) and then learn about a low opening bid. It happens … but if you’re a subscriber to Foreclosure Radar, there’s a good chance that you’ll know about the opening bid before the auctioneer. An opening bid on FR is no guarantee that the property will go to sale, but it’s a good indicator and it’s not uncommon for investors to inform the auctioneer that … “yep, it looks like there’s a bid” … The auctioneer may then work harder (multiple calls to their back-office to get the trustee’s clearance) to bring the property up for sale.
A quick follow-up … if you haven’t already done so … download the FR app for your smartphone or tablet. That way (if you’re a FR subscriber) you can see those last minute opening bids while you’re down at the courthouse steps.
Thank you for the informative responses, still new to this and learning slowly.