Hello Cheri,

My experience has been that the judgment amount will always be the opening bid. It is pretty rare to see a home at auction that has any equity. You do need to pay 10% of the final auction price if you win the bid and then the balance within 24 hours.

Buying a property at auction does give you the opportunity to get a great deal. There are also some pitfalls here. When you buy a property at auction, there is no guarantee the title will be free of all encumbrances. For example, if the IRS has a $50,000 tax lien on a property that you just purchased at auction, you just became responsible to pay that $50,000 to the IRS! If you plan to buy a property at auction, there is a lot of research that needs to be done prior to bidding.

I hope that helps! Feel free to post any additional follow up questions.

Good Luck!

Chris Clark

I am direct linking you several articles I have authored regards auctions. I hope assist in your participation

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1067728/dallas-fort-worth-re…

I have had sooooooooooo many families across the country contact my office they did not know what they were doing purhcased a home.... lost everything they had !

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