You’ll hear in this tour of Carlsbad REOs that banks are dropping the opening bids at the trustee sales to at, or below, market prices, and they are still going back to bene(ficiary).  In the video I lay out the game plan for buying direct at the trustee sales, which I’m happy to do.

But the real test is: what will the eventual list prices be for these?  If they list for the same as their opening bids, then forget buying at the trustee sale.  I’ll take my chances battling off the multiple offers, in exchange for full rights of house inspection, title insurance, and the ability to finance.  It might be worth another 5% or so for that convenience, plus the bank/seller pays the commission.

We’ll see – my guess is that the bank-sellers are going to use the appraisals, and list higher.  This group will be our test case.

The other challenge is that most of these bank-sellers haven’t been determining the opening bid until the day of the trustee sale, which leaves you an hour or two to scramble down to the courthouse with your cashier’s checks.  For those who are liquid for the entire amount of the purchase plus costs, and have flexible schedules, these are opportunities.  For the rest, well I’m still hopeful we can pull financing together.

I prefer not to do these, they are risky and not for the faint of heart.  But if it’s where you get the best deals, then it’s my job to facilitate you being able to take advantage.

BTW, at the end of the Mar Fiore rant the camera points at two houses, and I blurt out, “They sold for $1.2 & $1.3”. They sold for $875,000 in 2002 (corner lot), and $881,000 next door in 2003. It’s the third house in that is currently listed for $1,179,000. Other sales on that Cassins culdesac include $1.65 (10/05), $1.575 (7/07), and $1.275 (4/08).

Here is the youtube video tour of Carlsbad shadow REOs:

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