West Palm Beach Foreclosures – A Guide to Buying at Auctions

Buying a home affected by foreclosure at an auction is a fairly common way of acquiring a foreclosed home. With the numbers of West Palm Beach foreclosures on the rise, so are the numbers of foreclosure auctions. The primary reason that foreclosure auctions garner so much interest is because some very good bargains are known to come from these auctions.

A foreclosure auction is generally publicly notified, and the home is sold to the highest bidder in a public bidding process. The venue of these auctions is usually the steps of the County courthouse, but an auction can also take place in the yard of the home itself. Either way, it should be publicly notified.

In buying a home at an auction, you would need to have access to ready funds as the payment of these transactions usually needs to be made either through cash or through certified checks. Besides, you would need to place a deposit immediately after the auction if your bid happens to be the winning bid. You are also required to pay the balance within a given time frame, failing which, you stand to lose the deposit, and the home is put up for auction again.

Finding auctions is easy. Local newspapers carry foreclosure auction notices, and foreclosure auction notices are also usually put up at County courthouses. Driving around neighborhoods you wish to buy amidst could also yield in results. Once you have the information about an auction, it is always a good idea to call a day before the scheduled auction to confirm the auction’s occurrence. This is because foreclosure auctions are postponed from time to time (one reason for this is that the borrower / home owner could have filed for bankruptcy).

Inspecting foreclosure affected homes is always suggested, and homes being sold at foreclosure auctions are no different. However, not many home owners facing foreclosure are willing to have their homes ‘inspected’. If that is the case, you should still drive around the house, and try to gauge from the external appearances, what the state of the house is. Occupants within the house should generally mean that the home’s water supply and electricity are still on.

If you’ve never attended a foreclosure auction, make sure that you attend a few prior to placing your first bid. With a fair number of auctions coming up, you should have plenty of opportunities.