Foreclosures in Charlotte – A Guide to Buying at Auctions

Homes involved in the foreclosures in Charlotte are continuing to face the hammer as part of the foreclosure proceedings. Since foreclosure homes that sell at auctions generally end up selling at substantial discounts, many home buyers are looking at buying foreclosed homes at auctions.

Mentioned below is a brief step by step procedure that can guide you through the foreclosure auction process.

Amongst the first things that you would need to do, is get yourself up to date foreclosure auction listings. You can start by conducting your search on line. There are web sites that allow you to keep track of the homes that you might find interesting. Local newspapers carry auction notices too. Alternatively, real estate agents can be very good sources of local information.

Once you have a list of homes, it is important that you try to inspect them. This is not always possible because the existing occupants of the house in question might not be very welcoming. However, never be apprehensive about asking occupants if you can inspect the house, you don’t know what their answer will be. Even if you cannot inspect the property, try to get an idea of the condition by looking at it from the outside.

Before the home is put up for auction, the home owner is given time to try and cure the default in question. If the home owner is able to take care of the default, the auction can be cancelled. Also, auctions are known to get postponed from time to time. Therefore, it is important that you keep a track on this aspect of an auction too.

Before you bid at the auction, it is important to find out what the property’s estimated value is, the amount that is owed to the lender on the mortgage and if there are any others liens attached to the home. This is public information and can be found out through the county recorder.

Once you have these figures with you, you can decide how much you would be willing to bid. It is important to set an upper limit for the bid amount before you start the bidding process. This is because overbidding due to getting carried away in the heat of the moment is not uncommon. The highest bid is usually the winning bid.

If you end up having the winning bid, collect all the required documents that verify this. Find out what further course of action will need to be followed. Also, keep in mind that home owners in North Carolina are given 10 days after the foreclosure auction to repay what is owed to the lender and redeem the property.

Make sure you go through all the complexities of the process before you decide to bid. Ideally, your first auction should not see you placing any bids. Familiarize yourself with the process before diving in.