Time to buy a house now?

 Local paper had an ad listing bank owned houses with start bids at 50% of
the market value. I guess its sold as is, perhaps only worth far below
market value. Are those things like eBay where people over bid to above
retail values? I wouldn't mind getting one at 25% below market and rehab it
in couple of years.

 
Do your research before you make an offer.  Sometimes houses have
pretty big liens on them or other problems which you will need to pay
off first.
Also, of the auctions I've been to, the bank always outbids everyone
else.
Still it does seem like a good way to pick up a house at a good price.

Vin - Menotomy Vintage Bicycles
http://OldRoads.com

 

Makes you wonder what they mean by "Market Value". Normally, it means
the price at which a buyer can be found doesn't it? It seems to me then,
there is no way they could sell at less than "market value" at an
auction.

 In article <daniel_t-
F2F0BB.13350611062007@news.west.earthlink.net>,
daniel_t@earthlink.net says...


Well, there can be different numbers depending on the context.

For example, there can be a tax value, where your yearly tax bill
is some percentage of that.

Or there can be a market value if you are patient, and can take
time to sell.

Or there could be a different market value when selling is
urgent, like those auction sales.


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 ** Frank ** wrote:

Don't confuse what the bidding starts at with what the property is
worth. If you live in an area with a tight real estate market these
properties will get bid up to close to the market value. Probably not
over fair market value - unless someone makes a mistake, but don't
expect to get a 25% discount versus what comparable properties are
selling for in your region. Speculators bid these properties agressively
if they want them.

The properties are sold as-is, so unless you can afford to speculate,
have the knowledge to assess a property for major systems faults in a 20
minute walk through before bidding starts, have a huge pile of reserve
capital on hand to fix any major repair issues that may be discovered
later, and can get unsecured financing within 30 days of auction close
if the property can't pass inspection, and can afford to lose your
deposit if you can't get financing... Not the thing to go into if you
don't know what you are doing.

Rick