It’s that time again.

REDC, one of the nation’s most reputable and successful real estate auction companies, will conduct public foreclosure sales from this Saturday (Oct. 10) through Thursday (Oct. 29) in several states, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

It’s six more consecutive days of super sales on condominiums and townhomes, as well as single- and multi-family properties. All told, 467 properties combined must be sold in less than one week.

Bids can start as low as $500 because everything must go!

If you’re looking to take advantage of the best real estate deals in these areas then definitely check out REDCs foreclosure lender auctions.

Here are the locations (For complete details click here):

• October 24 – Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia
• October 25 – Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina
• October 25 – The Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina
• October 25 – Wilmington, North Carolina
• October 26 – Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee
• October 26 – Savannah International Trade and Convention Center in Savannah, Georgia
• October 27 – Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, Alabama
• October 27 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee
• October 28 – Memphis Marriott in Memphis, Tennessee
• October 28 – Sheraton Birmingham Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama

Remember that you can bid in-person or online.

The process is safe, easy, and compliant with all legal regulations. And you don’t have to be an experienced real estate expert to purchase a property.

To check out the homes for sale at the upcoming foreclosure auctions in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as to see when REDC will be coming to a city near you, click here.

Good luck!

We hope that you take advantage of these rock-bottom prices and easy financing at today’s low interest rates while they last!

Five states, six days.

This weekend signals the start of huge opportunities for house hunters and investors in the Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio markets looking to take advantage of the best real estate deals in their areas.

REDC, one of the nation’s most reputable and successful real estate auction companies, will conduct public foreclosure sales from Saturday (Oct. 10) through Thursday (Oct. 15).

That’s right: Six consecutive days of super sales on condominiums and townhomes, as well as single- and multi-family properties.

All told, 342 properties combined must be sold in less than one week. It’s the reason bids can start as low as $500 — everything must go!

Here are the locations (For complete details click here):

• Oct. 10 — Hyatt Regency O’Hare
• Oct. 11 — Indianapolis Marriott Downtown
• Oct. 12 — The Seelbach Hilton Louisville
• Oct. 13 — Renaissance St. Louis Grand & Suites
• Oct. 14 — DoubleTree Hotel Springfield
• Oct. 15 — Kansas City, Missouri Convention & Entertainment Facilities

Remember that you can bid in-person or online.

The process is safe, easy, and compliant with all legal regulations. And you don’t have to be an experienced real estate expert to purchase a property.

To check out the homes for sale at the upcoming foreclosure auctions in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio, as well as to see when REDC will be coming to a city near you, click here.

Good luck!

We hope that you take advantage of these rock-bottom prices and easy financing at today’s low interest rates while they last!

This is a big weekend for house hunters and investors in the Florida and Minnesota markets looking to take advantage of the best real estate deals in their areas.

REDC, one of the nation’s most reputable and successful real estate auction companies, will conduct public foreclosure sales on Saturday, Sept. 19, with bids on homes that start as low as $500.

Condominiums and townhomes, as well as single- and multi-family properties, are all on the block and up for grabs for ridiculously cheap prices.

You can bid in-person or online.

The process is safe, easy, and compliant with all legal regulations. And you don’t have to be an experienced real estate expert to purchase a property.

To check out the homes for sale this weekend in Florida and Minnesota, as well as to see when REDC will be coming to a city near you, click here.

Good luck!

We hope that you take advantage of these rock-bottom prices and easy financing at today’s low interest rates while they last!

Classes meet every Thursday morning at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Fla., at 9:30 a.m. ET. Call (866) 382-2439 today to reserve your spot!

Boca Raton, Fla. — Foreclosure.com (www.foreclosure.com) today announced that it has detected a 30 percent increase in sheriff/trustee sale cancellations when it compared March 2009 data to figures from exactly one year ago, signaling that banks and lenders are having success resolving loan situations with distressed borrowers in default.

It’s a positive sign that could mean more people are avoiding foreclosure and staying where they should be: In their homes.

“While not the smoking gun that the housing market is on the road to total recovery, it is good news nonetheless,” said Foreclosure.com Vice President James Houston. “Being in the midst of a foreclosure situation is a very difficult place to be. And the fewer homeowners who have to experience it the better it is for everyone.”

Foreclosure.com breaks down the foreclosure process into three simple steps: preforeclosures, sheriff/trustee sales and post foreclosures/REOs. Sheriff sales — also known as trustee sales in states such as California that primarily observe non-judicial foreclosure laws — are homes facing foreclosure that are scheduled to be put up for public auction.

These public auctions typically take place at county court houses or other public places such as libraries. It is often the last chance for a homeowner who has defaulted on his or her mortgage to cure the loan before it is either sold to a new buyer or repossessed by the bank/lender.

And the fact that sheriff sale cancellations are up means that distressed homeowners and their lenders are finding common ground.

“Refinances, loan modifications and short sales are all great options that can rescue cash-strapped homeowners from foreclosure situations,” said Houston. “Most loss mitigation departments nationwide have been flooded with these types of requests. Now it appears that progress is being made … baby steps.”

Houston also points to the recently introduced “Making Home Affordable” program, which is a federal program created to help millions of homeowners refinance or modify their Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgages as a possible reason for the jump. The goal of the plan is as its name suggests — make mortgages more affordable to short circuit the foreclosure process before it even happens.

There are five top reasons that people end up in foreclosure, including unemployment, Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), illness, divorce and death. Houston indicates that these factors and all others have clearly contributed to the current foreclosure situation; however, unemployment and “balloon” mortgages are the primary culprits.

“It’s a scary situation out there right now — people are hunkering down and doing what they can to get by on a daily basis,” said Houston. “But it’s not all bad news. Sheriff sale cancellations have increased and will hopefully continue to do so as the market begins to correct. It’s a small step in the right direction.”

Practice what you preach.

That’s the motto here at Foreclosure.com because it is impossible to run the most successful distressed real estate Web site on the Internet without everyone at every level having a firm understanding of the foreclosure process from the bottom up.

So it’s Thursday morning and instead of braving the commute south to our corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., I am headed east for the weekly “class trip” to the Palm Beach County Court House in West Palm Beach to provide Foreclosure.com staff members with a refresher course on the auction process.

It’s company policy that we offer this type of activity annually to introduce some of our new employees to the actual experience, as well as keep the topic fresh on the minds of our more experienced team members. From customer service to human resources to programming, all personnel types from every department at Foreclosure.com are invited to participate in the weekly excursions.

Let’s quickly take you through a typical day for us at the court house.

We try to keep the group size manageable so we don’t disturb the file room while going through the latest lis pendens filings. While checking in we are asked to leave a driver’s license in exchange to review the files, which is always amazing because of the sheer amount of paperwork that is involved.

As we sift through various files, I will take the class through the process of identifying the subject property, which takes a few page flips to pinpoint actual address and not the legal description of the property. This is a bit cumbersome, but it makes everyone appreciate what we are able to do at Foreclosure.com, distilling all the important information and presenting it in an easy-to-read, understandable and accessible format.

In short, most people just don’t realize how complicated and time consuming this process can be if they have to do it on their own manually.

After we give everyone a chance to review a file and try to find all the data that we report on our site, we take a few minutes and review a few of the files actually going to auction on this particular Thursday. As you would expect, the files are thicker because of the additional court filings for each foreclosure.

When we finish with the files we head downstairs into the cafeteria where the Sheriff Sale is already taking place. It’s real easy to tell who the area investors are, taking over one corner of the room with their eight-inch thick binders full of possible purchases.

In addition, there are usually several bank and lender representatives on hand in suits who are there to protect there assets — these representatives will typically place the minimum bids required on the homes to ensure that opportunistic investor’s don’t walk away with properties for pennies.

In fact, most sales these days go back to the bank … but not all them.

There is excitement in the room as a couple of the seasoned investors who are at the Sheriff Sale every week bid on properties every so often. These are calculated offers that the investors have spent weeks researching. And if the bids get too high, the investors usually back off right away and begin to feverishly search their notes for the next possible gem.

Of course, it’s common to also see former homeowners in the room to observe the proceedings — sometimes it’s just out of curiosity and for others it’s because they are there to stop the sale. In fact, just last week a homeowner was successful, delaying the sale because a motion had been filed to rescue the home.

We’re seeing more of this lately, actually, because more and more sales are being canceled as banks are inundated with short sales and bankruptcies.

All in all the foreclosure court house auction experience is unique and one that you must see with your own eyes to truly understand and appreciate. It changes from week-to-week, which is among the many reasons we encourage our employees to check-in from time to time.

As the auction winds down, the class is dismissed and we all head back to the office with a better and renewed understanding of the process and the value we provide folks like you on a national basis. And we’ll do it all over again next week.

And so, too, should you.

To check out upcoming foreclosure auction sales in your area visit Foreclosure.com today right here.

“That world inside there is very competitive…. And their intent would be to raise your price so that you will not come back again.”

– Julian Dominguez, who’s been investing in foreclosures and guiding others through it from more than 20 years, shares some insight via CBS4.com on what the atmosphere is sometimes like during a public foreclosure auction. In short, it’s not uncommon for experienced investors to manipulate, intimidate or take advantage of new faces. Therefore, it’s always a smart move to attend a few auctions before actually bidding on a house during one. This will give you time to get a feel for the mood in the room and also meet with some of the other “regulars.” For more on the firsthand foreclosure auction experience click here.

When a homeowner borrows money to finance a home and can’t pay the mortgage it goes into default. To recoup its money, a lender will usually foreclose on the property and sell it at a public auction to the highest bidder.

In some states the Sheriff for each county manages, conducts and holds these public foreclosure sales. That’s the reason is is called a “Sheriff Sale.” The dates, time and locations of these auctions are often required to be publicly announced prior to the actual auction dates and usually take place in designated county courtrooms.

Countless properties throughout the United States are purchased at Sheriff Sales for considerably less than their market value – sometimes 30-50 percent!

To make it easier to find theses great deals, as well as the times and locations nationwide, Foreclosure.com just introduced a new “Sheriff Sale” tab on our search pages.

Here’s what it looks like:

The options within this tab allow you to search via the Foreclosure.com Listing ID, City, Zip Code and/or a range between auction dates. Therefore, if you want information about Sheriff Sales taking place in your area from December 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, just key in those dates and click the “Search” button.

It’s that easy! No more combing through the local newspapers or pouring over documents in the county courthouse. Foreclosure.com has done all the hard work and collected all the data that you need and filed it in one convenient location.

To search for Sheriff Sales and public foreclosure auctions in your area right now click here.

Note: Want to know what it’s like to attend a Sheriff Sale? To read a detailed account of the experience in Palm Beach county, Fla., click here.

(Note: For more background information on auctions and sheriff sales click here and here.)

To provide some sort of context we decided to send one of our staff members to the Palm Beach County Courthouse located in West Palm Beach, Florida, to sit-in on one of two weekly foreclosure auctions (Tuesday and Thursday.)

Here is her report:

It’s Thursday, November 8, 2006, and I’m headed for the second of two weekly foreclosure auctions at the Palm Beach County Courthouse. These real estate auctions take place each Tuesday and Thursday at 10 p.m. ET in a dining hall that is converted into a large meeting space.

The crowd of about 30 is mostly made up of professional-looking people. I’m told that these are representatives for the banks who are in attendance to buy back their foreclosed properties. Once a bank buys back a foreclosure property it becomes Real Estate Owned (REO).

There are other attendees at a table in the corner who are talking business and pouring over reams of data prior to the sale. Clearly, these are the investors who are hoping to score a great real estate deal with a low bid.

Prior to finding a seat, I notice a list of properties posted on the wall. These are the listings that will go “on the block” this morning. Rather than stand there and ogle I purchase a newspaper right there for $2 that has all of the listings for today’s auction and the rest of the month published.

This way I can take it to my seat and quickly study some of the deals before the action starts. There are more than 30 properties on the docket this morning.

I think to myself, “That’s a lot,” considering this happens twice per week. “And I’m just in Palm Beach County. This happens in all counties throughout the United States!”

At about 9:50 a.m. representatives from the Clerk’s office begin to set up for the auction. The emcee makes an announcement that anyone who is interested participating must register to bid and become certified prior to the start of the auction.

This legitimizes the auction and ensures that a bidder is not outbid by a person who can’t afford to purchase a foreclosure at auction.

In fact, bidders are required to pay 5 percent of the bid price right away and the balance no later than 4 p.m. that SAME DAY! For example, if an offer is accepted for $100,000 the bidder is required to pay $5,000 immediately and the balance ($95,000) at least six hours later.

Here are the actual instructions:

“To make a purchase buyers must have 5 percent of the bid amount at the time of the sale. Remaining balance must be paid by 4 p.m. the same day. Cash or a Florida cashier’s check payable to the Clerk of the Court. Other costs of the sale will be collected at that time. Additional costs and fees may be added to some final judgments listed. Some sales are are subject to cancellation by order of the court.”

Where do people get this kind of money? We’ll talk about that in an upcoming post. For now we just want to focus on the process.

At about 9:59 a.m. a police officer in the room reminds everyone that cell phones are not allowed. Before she can even finish her sentence the phone of an investor begins to ring loud.

He thinks it’s amusing … she doesn’t.

The sale is about to begin and the emcee rattles off some last minute instructions. Her tone is robotic — you can tell she’s done this way too many times.

She begins by calling out the case number for the first property on the list. This is how banks, attorney’s and investors identify these listings — it’s not by the addresses. The Clerk representative then calls the names of the Plaintiff and the Defendant.

In the first case it was: Bank of New York vs. Luis Dominguez.

A representative from the bank then approached the podium with a stack of papers and blank checks. The Clerk representative then announced that there was an opening bid of $100 from the bank representative. She asked if there were any other bids:

“$100 going once, $100 going twice, $100 going three times … SOLD for $100 to the Bank of New York.”

Out of the 30 properties this happened about 27 times — various bank representatives just buying back their homes. Why? Because these banks doled out the loans for these properties. And if they didn’t buy them back they’d lose a massive amount of money.

Imagine lending a homeowner $300,000 and he or she defaults on that loan in just two years. That’s a lot of money on the table that a lender will not walk away from. The goal is to get the “Final Judgment” value for a property.

That’s basically all the money that has gone into a particular property. On the Dominguez house the “Final Judgment” was $242,000. The bank would want a bidder to bid up close to that amount for it to be sold to someone other than the bank representative.

Of course, banks don’t always require that bidders meet the “Final Judgment” value. Some will stop bidding on a property if the amount reaches a predetermined figure. For example, in the Dominguez house the bank might be willing to accept $230,000 at auction (or lower). That’s because in the long-run it will cost them more money to market and sell the homes.

Always remember: Banks are not Realtors. They handle money … not real estate. The quicker a home is off their books the better the situation — even if its at a minimal loss.

Back to the auction.

Midway through the sale an investor finally shouted out a bid on a property. It was for an outstanding condominium association fee on a property in Lake Worth, FL. He and the bank representative for that property went back and forth until the bank representative was apparently satisfied at the $5,000 mark.

The investor walked up and plunked down $250 cash (his 5 percent deposit) and it was his — pending payment in full and the 10-day confirmation of a certified sale (no home auction purchase is ever official until after at least 10 days.)

There was another minor incident between two investors toward the end of the auction. These two apparently knew one another and seemed annoyed that a bidding war was in full swing. It didn’t seem like the first time this had happened. Once the winning bid was announced the losing bidder asked the winning bidder to talk on the side about what had just happened.

It was a professional disagreement — one that apparently happens all the time at foreclosure auctions. In fact, Sheriff Sales can be very intimidating for new investors. Just for the short time that I was there you could tell who were the “regulars” and seemed like they had an expectation of entitlement.

Our REO Director, in fact, when I can back to the office told me about a group of “regulars” who would often collude on the bidding if a new investor was interested in the property. The goal was to make the new investor bid too high so that when it came time to resell the property that he or she would be in the red.

These are the kinds of things to watch out for during a Sheriff Sale. In addition to all the other research that goes into it such as ensuring that a title is “clean,” it’s important to be aware of the other bidders in the room and their intentions.

All in all the experience was eye-opening. I’ve heard horror stories and read about the “lemons” that people purchase and end up losing their shirts. Based on what I saw purchasing a home at a foreclosure auctions requires a great deal of homework prior to submitting a bid. There’s strategy, whispering and sorts of other things going on simultaneously.
It’s a rather nerve-racking experience … and I wasn’t even bidding!

The best advice I can give is to find out the date and time of the next public foreclosure auction in your local area and sit in on it. You might want to do this a few times, in fact, to get comfortable with the process before actually getting your feet wet.

Good luck!