A real estate auction has various disadvantages that make it a unfruitful choice compared to pre-foreclosure bargains. Here is what they are:
· Greater competition-by definition, auctions are public which means everyone and his brother cognizes about the sale and can enter the bidding. This can drive the price up and have two potential negative results. One, it can put the property beyond your means. Or, two, if you do win the property, it may well abridge the earnings you can gain.
· Fixed sales terms-at a public auction, there is no chance to negotiate sales conditions unlike in the pre-foreclosure stage. You've no flexibility and no opportunity to negotiate conditions that could bring in you more profit.
· No inspections-at a foreclosure auction, you buy the property “as is.” You've no chance to inspect it in order to key out any faults (leaky roofs, etc.) that could wind up costing you a lot of money.
· Proof of funds is required-if you are a bidder at a public auction, you'll be compelled to show proof that you have the money essential to accomplish the purchase. E.g., you may be required to have cash or a cashier’s check for X amount of your winning bid (5%, 10%, etc.). Then, it’s likely that you will be asked to pay the rest of your bid amount of money within a short time period as well as title transfer fees. (This requirement keeps non-qualified bidders from slowing down the process.)
· No leverage-since auctions are strictly “cash and carry,” you’re not able to use the opportunity to line up a lender to finance the balance of the sale price. If you’re new to investment and have little free cash available, this means you’re effectively shut out of the auction process.
· You may not be able to insure the title-title insurers don't like risk, and nearly all of them consider foreclosed properties to be an unacceptable risk. They’ll take a very close look at such property titles and, if they find any errors, they may well decline to insure them. This, successively, may leave you with unaccepted risk.
· Possible for bidder collusion-there’s all of the time the possibility that a group of bidders may adjoin ahead an auction sale and ascertain a highest bidding amount of money on a desired property. This has the burden of restricting competition among other, less well-heeled, bidders. The result-you don’t get the property and end up wasting your time.
· Poor property condition-after you win a property, you may find it’s in such poor condition that no property or casualty firms want to insure it.
· The possibility of unfriendly occupants-if the property is occupied by unfriendly owners or tenants, you may be forced to evict them. This can be expensive and time-consuming. Basically, it means you can’t do anything with the property until the occupants are ousted-not a good scenario for making a profit!
· The “right of redemption” obstacle-from earlier in this chapter, you’ll remember that owners have the right to redeem their property after the sale within a specified amount of time. The redemption period varies with the state and can range from anywhere from 30 days to a year. So, this entails you run the risk of losing the property after having bought it.
· Technical faults in the foreclosure process-errors can bristle in the foreclosure sales procedure-misspelled names, wrong street addresses, math errors, failure to adhere strictly to procedures, etc. This unfolds the possibility for the previous owner to appeal for an overturn of the sale. Answering these issues can take months and add up to a big headache for you in terms of time and money.
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Labels: Auction, Disadvantages, Estate