Yesterday, I attended the auction of bank owned foreclosures, which was held at the Richmond Convention Center. Approximately, 100 properties were auctioned covering an area from the Peninsula (Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Hampton Roads/Chesapeake) up to Charlottesville. On Saturday, about 250 properties located in Northern Virginia were auctioned at a Hyatt in Crystal City.

     At yesterday’s auction, there were about 20 properties sold that were in the greater Richmond area. The vast majority of these properties were in the City of Richmond. There were 4 properties sold that were located in good suburban areas. Each of these 4 properties I had shown or previewed when the property had been on the market and listed in MLS. So did the buyers on these properties “steal” something?

    I don’t think so. First, most of these properties were sold “subject to seller confirmation”, which means the auction was not an absolute one. Second, probably about 10 % – 15 % of the properties came back to  the block a second time. Don’t know why, but my guess is the folks buying didn’t have the funds for the down payment or had a glitch when they got in front of the lenders. Third, in talking with some of the old hands I met at the auction, their common complaint was title issues, which could take months to rectify with rectification being on their nickel. Oh yeah, they also mentioned how one sided the sales contract was with it all in favor of the seller.

     Com’ on, Brick, but what about the prices. Well, once you added the 5 % buyer premium to auction price, I am not so sure.  Anyway, I’ll be watching to see if any of these properties get relisted due to “seller confirmation.” If you interested in learning more about bank owned foreclosures, don’t forget my Saturday Morning Tour of Bank Owned Properties. Here’s a link if you’d like to register for the tour.