Buying a property through an auction i.e. buying a foreclosed property is the most profitable and common way to make fortune in the field of real estate. But if you do not know how to buy a foreclosed property, it can also turn to be the easiest way to loose a fortune. Most disasters occur due to over bidding on the property without assessing the real market value properly and fix up costs of the property in the bidding. Fortune on a foreclosed property can make or break that depends on the research you did.
Auctions of foreclosed property are held at public auctions, these auctions are conducted under the supervision of the country or state court where the property is situated. This works in favor of the buyer as the transfer of title is immediately executed upon winning the bid. In most of the cases the winning bidder is the lender who has requested the foreclosure of the property in the first place.
Let us look into the pros and cons of buying a foreclosed property.
If we go for the advantages, the main advantage of buying a foreclosed property through an auction is the profitability, i.e. the difference between the highly discounted price and the estimated value you can sell it at. A normal foreclosure property auction has six-week notice enabling the interested buyer to inspect the property and assess its total cost including the fix ups and other issues and research the market price at which it can be disposed of. One must always remember that bidding at a foreclosed property auction need not be competitive but based on what you assess.
For the disadvantages, the main disadvantage in buying a foreclosed property from a court auction is that it requires a lot of capital investment. The payment period is very short and one should be ready even before bidding to successfully buy a foreclosed property. A major disadvantage would be transfer of title as it involves a great risk. If your research is not correct or incomplete it could lead to major losses. If the risk is high the profit will also be better provided you be careful and do a significant research before buying one.
Buying a foreclosed property involves a lot of learning. Smart businesspersons have been known to experience the darker side of buying and selling the foreclosed properties. If one is careful he can make the most out of it, but if one is careless they can also turn into bankrupts in matter of weeks.