Sell Your Home in a Real Estate Auction?

Sam selling grandmother's house - Courtesy of LG- flickr

The Trend

There's a growing trend now in real estate, actually not a new
thing but happening more often, none the less.

Fox news had a piece on this and made it sound like anyone
could do it.  You can but you will lose as a seller, great if you're an
investor licking the wounds.

Foreclosures in Dallas are auctioned off the first Tuesday of every
month on the court house steps, mostly sight unseen and more
than likely you need to have cash or fast credit in 30 days.

What's Happening Now that's New

Foreclosures have always been a good business in Dallas
and there are specific Realtors/Brokers that do this called
Real Estate Owned (REO) which means they list and sell
distressed properties for lenders and banks.

What's interesting is now the lenders banks are putting
pressure on these REO Realtors/Brokers to sell the properties
more quickly.

They will only list the property for let's say 90 Days and if it
doesn't sell they will take it off the MLS and go straight to
Auction - on and off-line.

What This Means for You

Right now there are some excellent foreclosures in highly
desirable areas and priced below the market.

If your REO Realtor says the lender is going to auction if they don't
get a contract soon,  you can probably negotiate a very good price
besides what it's listed for.

The lenders and banks want their money quickly now and will
probably want to SELL the property before taking it to auction.