Well, here is a follow up on the answers I have received so far:
None of the properties I wrote about was ever listed for sale or a short sale.
Some of them have original sale date back in Oct 2008 and still counting continuances, 10 months after.
If I could find such a model in the area I am interested for I would immediately make an offer,I wouldn't wait of course. I am subscribed to more than 5 real-estate web sites and I get updates every day.
I actually made a few offers but due to multiple offer situation I lost them all to a higher bidder even I offered price higher than the listed one. I extremely hate anonymous auctions, it is like a lottery.
The banks are not willing to give away their properties but yet they often bid with very high deficiency, sometimes just a half of the owed amount.
Finally, lots of investors are the same banks that are reselling properties bought at foreclosure auction for profit.
If I have started this idea earlier I would have already bought my dream house for bargain on an auction.
I read somewhere that filing bankruptcy would temporarily stop a foreclosure so maybe this is a case with these properties that are just hanging and postponing the auction sale every week for months.
A big "Thank You" to all participants in this thread. Best Regards.

Hey Paul...

Since I use to represent investors at auction as their agent, I can tell you there very easily could be several things in play. Most likely if you are finding the home receiving a continuance date from auction...it is because there maybe an "offer" being presented at the last minute. This process can "buy time" for a home owner in short sale...up to 3 or 4 months or longer.

My advise is to not attempt to purchase a home at auction...it is literally a feeding frenzy for the lenders holding 1st & 2nd position on the note. I recommend you find yourself a real estate agent you can trust...that knows the system and make your offer while the home is still in short sale.

Just because a home goes to auction doesn't mean that it's going to be available to you quickly...getting title can take months alone. Buying homes that are bank owned is a game of chance...you never know when the bank will put them back on the market...in some cases a motivated bank will "reduce" list price quickly...and if you or your agent doesn't know how the "players" think...you could end up paying more in the long run.

Banks aren't giving these homes away...so start interviewing agents and determine for yourself who will be best to advise you...and remember...the right agent will have great contacts "in the know"!

Good luck...and let me know if you have any additional questions!

Kim

I agree with Stephanie Fix's comments.

Hi Paul, My fellow agents have provided adequate information to your question so I won't comment further. However I am assuming that these properties are not listed by an agent as a short sale? If not you may let me know the property addresses and I can call the listing agent as an inquiry if listed. You may want to consider a short sale as well. Each week I review the Notice of Election and Demand report by county to analyze how many of the NED's are listed for sale in MLS by realtors. I also from time to time attend the Thursday morning auctions at the Denver County building to see firsthand who is bidding. I have seen the 3rd parties successfully outbid the banks on occasion but these 3rd parties are typically looking for a great deal. These are typically investors and can I assume that you are an investor with cash to purchase an auction property and not a first time home buyer?

I understand the short sale process well if you are interested in pursuing. Short sales are a challenge however I believe that it is very important as a buyer's agent to qualify the short sale. Some short sales have many junior liens and 2 mortgages that can make it difficult for a listing agent to negotiate and hence may be unsuccessful for short sale approval by the lender or will take a great amount of time to negotiate. In Denver County alone we currently have 492 condo and single family short sales listed for by agents. With this said there are many many more NED's not being listed by agents and end up at auction or back on the market months later by an REO agent.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to call me at 303-885-4693 or email me at sfix@prestigerealtygroup.com.

Thank you.
Stephanie

Hi Paul,
For Denver homeowners that are trying to work out loan modifications or short sale their homes, the lenders are either filing a continuance (usually of 30 days) or not placing a bid at all, which then the county has to extend the sale date by a week at a time. A lot of times, it's the homeowner or the real estate agent requesting these. Generally, the banks are doing this since they would rather work out something with the owner than have the cost of foreclosing, and there may be other reasons as well. However, the foreclosing bank can only file a continuance on the sale date for a maximum of 12 months in the state of Colorado, so you are close to seeing some of these foreclosures go to sale that the banks have been delaying on. Hope that helps.

Hi Paul,

There could be several reasons why this is happening. Here are a couple that I can think of.

1. The bank has decided to give the borrower more time to complete their sale of the house and as a result pushes the date of sale back.

2. The bank may be waiting to see what the government is going to do in response to so many homes going to sale and as a result doesn't want to take such big loss on a sale if the government is going to bail them out.

There are many other possibilities.

You can sign up to be emailed foreclosure properties as they come on the market at:

http://www.denvercoloradorealestatenow.com/page/94496/Forecl…

If auctions aren't producing the results that you want, you may have better luck making offers on REO homes. Let me know if I can help you with the purchase of REO homes or investment homes in general.

Thank you,

Ethan Besser
Real Estate Investing Specialist
303-856-8980.