Donna,

As Tim points out, the laws vary by State and as I mentioned below you really need to know what you are doing. In Georgia, there is no such thing as an upset bid; however, Georgia has a "Right of Redemption" period. The Right of Redemption is a short period of time that the foreclosed Home Owner has to get their mortgage curent and pay all outstanding fees... this rarely happens, but it is possible. Once the Redemption Period passes you own the home.

If you are interested in purchasing a foreclosure, interview or get a referral for a real estate agent that is seasoned in Foreclosures and help you navigate the land mines of buying a foreclosure. Good luck!!!

Donna, Try going to the Bank/Gov sites created to provide the public with that information. The Bid/Purchase process for each is explained and you can view their properties for sale (REO/Foreclosures)

Sites like this .... http://hud3.towerauction.net/NC.htm ... http://www.countrywide.com/purchase/f_reo.asp

http://www.pasreo.com/pasreo/public/propertySearch.do ... http://www.wamuproperties.com/

You can find the links to all these sites and more here ... http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/wiki/REO_Database_List.asp ... http://www.biggerpockets.com/bank-reo.html

Tax Liens/Sales ... Wake County .. http://www.wakegov.com/tax/realestate/foreclosures.htm
Nice search engine for searching public records
http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/

Auctions .. Due Diligence .... http://www.naarealestateauctions.com/consumer/search/search?… .... http://www.propertyauction.com/Residential-Real-Estate-Aucti…
..... http://www.williamsauction.com/Search/searchresults.aspx?sta… ... More ya just gotta look.

Good hunting, Dunes

In Raleigh and the Triangle, you need to know the rules on foreclosure. When you walk away from the auction at the courthouse, YOU HAVE NOT BOUGHT THE HOME! There is a 10 day upset period, where anyone who wants to make a higher bid can upset your purchase. Experienced buyers do not bother with the courthouse bids, the do upset bids. As a result, it is hard to get a screaming good deal past the upset buyers. The procedure in North Carolina is different from the comment from the agent in Georgia, so you need to know the local laws.

The better way to buy a foreclosure is before the sale. Get the property when it is a short sale and make an offer. They will postpone the foreclousre, and you will be the only bidder. So, those other vultures do not get a chance at your deal. Close the sale as a short sale, do not pay the bank all of what is owed, and get the property for sure instead of hopin no one makes an upset bid. If you want more information on short sales, go to http://www.ShortSalesR.us. i teach the continuing education course on short sales, and good information is on the website.

You can also buy a foreclosure after the bank has taken it back. If no one else bids at the sale, the bank hires an REO agent like me to sell the property. If you want to find the best REO agents, go to http://www.REObroker.com. The banks will sell the property for less than what they bid at the foreclosure sale.

If you want to buy foreclosure, short sale or listed foreclosure, you will be buying the home "As IS", so either have some cash or know how to get improvement loans.

Donna,

There are a couple ways to buy a Foreclosed Property.

1. The first Tuesday every month in Georgia, investors line-up at the Courthouse in each County to buy a "Foreclosed Property". The attorneys walk out, read out the address of the property, state the price and the bidding begins... it is basically cash and carry... say you bid $100,000 for the property and you were successful, you have to have a $100,000 Cashiers Check right then and there and you walk away with the Warranty Deed for the property... no additional costs!! This is not for an amateur though, because there are a lot of risks when buying this way... don't get me wrong, you can get some killer deals, you just need to know what you are doing!!

2. The other type of "Foreclosed Property" which you are most likely speaking about is an Real Estate Owned (REO) property. In this case, the property was foreclosed on and no one purchased it at the foreclosure auction so it went back to the Lender. In this case, the foreclosed property is an REO property. The Lender will have a small group of Real Estate Agents that they have List the property for sale. For the most part, buying this type of property is fairly traditional and almost all costs are known... if you buy the property "As-Is" your risk is limited to your ability to guesstimate the repair costs.

Donna, there can be additional fee's depending on the type of foreclosure. They are not excessive but it is something you need to be made aware of at the time of an offer.

If you're interested in pursuing a foreclosure purchase, make sure you interview a few agents. Not all Realtors are savvy with foreclosure and short sale sales. With over 300 foreclosures under my teams belt...there are always details that have to be monitored. We offer a daily foreclosure search to keep you on top of your options. The good ones with equity go quick!

Good luck with your house hunt.

And if your your going to use FHA loan you will run into issues getting the property to pass FHA apraisal. I have looked at a few dozen that need minor things but would not pass for FHA 203B (the regular one). I am looking at a FHA 203K loan that lets you roll the repair cost into the loan. Good luck

Hi Donna
Foreclosures are obviously becoming more common in todays market. There is really that much more involved than a regular purchase of a home. I would still recommend using a buyers agent, since there is no charge to you for this service. I would be happy to help you, if you do not have an agent.
Michael

Donna,
That is actually going to depend on where/how you are buying a foreclosure. If you purchase a foreclosure at the court house steps there can be liens attached to the property that the buyer will have to assume. If you are looking on an investor website that may be why they mention it.

If you purchase a listed foreclosure through the mls there are often additional costs associated with any closing extension period which is otherwise known as a per diem (per day cost). When purchasing a foreclosure there are times when the bank can not close on the agreed upon day and you may incur costs to store your furniture and/or stay in a hotel for a period of time. Of course a delay in closing can happen with a traditional sale as well but more often in a foreclosure.

Foreclosures were not as normal in our market prior to the past year so there are not as many agents as one would think that are familiar with the process. I work as one of very few (less than 10 of 4000+) agents that have ever sold homes through the foreclosure auction at the courthouse. We have a number of short sale listings and a majority of our sales in the past year have been foreclosures. If you are considering purchasing a foreclosure be sure the agent has a great deal of experience in assisting buyers with foreclosure property. There are numerous addendums that are attached to the contract that agents are not trained on. It is important for most all buyers to have a buyers agent and even more important when dealing with a foreclosure.

If there are any other questions I can answer for you please feel free to contact me through Trulia and Happy House Hunting!

Donna,

No additional fees.
Often, however, the home needs a great deal more work than similar homes that are not foreclosures.

That can affect the real value of the deal.