Foreclosure Auctions: How Determine Which Homes are Going to Auction

If you’ve been following this foreclosure blog last week we discussed what scenarios have to occur before a house is considered foreclosed and before it’s available at foreclosure auctions.  Now we need to discuss how to locate these homes before they make it to auction.  Being prepared before the foreclosure auctions occur will allow you to know the homes that are going to be available.  Having this research done beforehand will  prove to be a valuable asset in your foreclosure investing career.

Now if you are doing this for investment purposes you have to make sure that you are not getting emotionally attached to the homes you locate.  You want to find at least 10 homes that you are willing to bid on before the auction.  If for whatever reason you don’t get one of the homes you bidded on don’t sweat it.  Another great deal is just around the corner, especially in these times when there are so many foreclosures on the market.

So that being said the best place to start your search is at the County Recorder’s Office.   In most states notices of default are recorded with the County Clerk at this office.  Once a notice of default is filed it becomes public record and can be searched for by anyone free of charge.  The name of the default notice may vary depending on the state but you will basically need to ask the County Clerk for the place to search for notice of default (NOD), Lis Pendens, or Notice of Sale.

Checking the County Recorder’s Office is definently a good strategy because notices will show here before any of the online foreclosure data providers get them.  This strategy can also be great if you are looking to invest in pre-foreclosures which we’ll discuss in later post.

Another great place to search for houses that will be going to foreclosure auctions are in your local newspaper.  As a part of the requirement for filing a foreclosure it has to be listed in the newspaper of the county or city it’s foreclosing in.  Normally they will be listed under the Notice of Sale section in your local paper.   This will save you a trip to the courthouse however unlike the courthouse you won’t be able to see a list of all the foreclosure available, just the items that have gone to foreclosure since the last paper.

Both techniques will work great in locating homes that may go to the foreclosure auctions.  Most homeowners will be able to pull themselves out of foreclosure before they make it to the auction, but make sure your continue you stay organized and keep a log of the homes that you were interested in because they may be back on the chopping block.

These techniques also work great for finding pre-foreclosures and short sales, both of which we will be discussing in later post.