What The Heck Is A Government Foreclosure Auction?
When we hear that a house or farm is going up for foreclosure, we tend to think of the bank coming in to claim ownership. But the government, and not just banks, can also seize property, farms, ranches, condominiums or mobile homes. The US government can seize property from anyone who owes them a lot of taxes or who defaulted on a VA home loan. Sometimes, the government decides to use the property for social programs, but mostly they just sell in a government foreclosure auction.
How It Works
You can find a list of properties to be sold by government foreclosure auctions for free. You can use a paid service, but why bother? All you need to do is check out the US government's web page at the US Department of the Treasury. You won’t just find homes and farms listed, but often will find cars, boats, office equipment and sometimes rare books.
Changes By State
Government foreclosure auctions are a little more complicated than the usual auction where you show up and raise your hand, pay and immediately take the item home. It's more like an eBay auction. The actual particulars of when and where you present your bid differ from state to state. In some states, you only need to bring ten percent of your bid with you in order to win the home. For other states, you need to bring the full amount. That's a big difference.
Caveat Empor
One of the disadvantages of any kin of real estate auction is that once it's yours, you can’t back out of the deal. You need to know as much information about that property up for a government foreclosure auction as possible before you decide on a bid. You are responsible for checking on the property's condition yourself. This can be difficult if there are people still living on the property.
If you really have your heart set on the property, you may be able to work out a deal to buy the home from the people still living in the house. In this way, the government foreclosure auction is stopped. But you have to check with the broker assigned to handle the auction. Again, laws vary from state to state.
Thankfully, the government does not directly handle government foreclosure auctions. Nothing would ever get sold. In order to get things done, what the government does is hire local brokers and real estate agencies to handle the whole thing.
When we hear that a house or farm is going up for foreclosure, we tend to think of the bank coming in to claim ownership. But the government, and not just banks, can also seize property, farms, ranches, condominiums or mobile homes. The US government can seize property from anyone who owes them a lot of taxes or who defaulted on a VA home loan. Sometimes, the government decides to use the property for social programs, but mostly they just sell in a government foreclosure auction.
How It Works
You can find a list of properties to be sold by government foreclosure auctions for free. You can use a paid service, but why bother? All you need to do is check out the US government's web page at the US Department of the Treasury. You won’t just find homes and farms listed, but often will find cars, boats, office equipment and sometimes rare books.
Changes By State
Government foreclosure auctions are a little more complicated than the usual auction where you show up and raise your hand, pay and immediately take the item home. It's more like an eBay auction. The actual particulars of when and where you present your bid differ from state to state. In some states, you only need to bring ten percent of your bid with you in order to win the home. For other states, you need to bring the full amount. That's a big difference.
Caveat Empor
One of the disadvantages of any kin of real estate auction is that once it's yours, you can’t back out of the deal. You need to know as much information about that property up for a government foreclosure auction as possible before you decide on a bid. You are responsible for checking on the property's condition yourself. This can be difficult if there are people still living on the property.
If you really have your heart set on the property, you may be able to work out a deal to buy the home from the people still living in the house. In this way, the government foreclosure auction is stopped. But you have to check with the broker assigned to handle the auction. Again, laws vary from state to state.
Thankfully, the government does not directly handle government foreclosure auctions. Nothing would ever get sold. In order to get things done, what the government does is hire local brokers and real estate agencies to handle the whole thing.
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