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Knock, knock: Gaining access to a home going to auction

Posted on Nov 10, 2010


I was in the field yesterday driving a few “Hot Properties” with a investor client.  We were driving the list of properties with bids we had and few that looked hot based on their location and debt amount that did not have specific opening bids. We found a couple homes that were not so hot and marked them accordingly to update our website, but we found a couple properties with valley views of the Snohomish River and one overlooking Puget Sound and views of the Olympic Mountains that were wholesale values prime for auction purchasing.

At one property in a really good neighborhood of Everett we found a nice home occupied by the owner. The homeowner toured the house for us and explained in detail all he had done to update the property and what was wrong  still needed updating. We asked why he hadn’t worked out the situation with the Bank and he said he had been trying for over 2 years with no success. We discussed that issue for a few minutes and left the home with the owners contact info for use later. After leaving the home my investor stated “that was a great house and great opportunity” based on the current opening bid price combined with property condition, location and the updates the owner had done.

The sad part was it was a disaster for the current (soon to be past homeowner). He had recently lost his wife due to all the stress of their financial situation and now he was losing his home to a bank that would not work out a plan for him. His anger was directed at the banks – not at us, as he was obviously more than willing to help us.

All this reminds me why I have been investing at the auctions,  buying wholesale what most people only dream about. Some people  have told me, “John, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack,” and I have agreed that if a needle in a haystack was worth $30-$100k in value I would be tearing apart haystacks on a weekly basis. There is an obvious tidal wave of foreclosures today, and it’s like nothing I have seen over the past 19 years.  Opportunity is knocking for investors and homeowners wanting to acquire a home at a steep discount in great areas of town in all prices. This is a great time to be actively out there looking for wholesale purchases in our market. I am excited to be in the game myself and to be helping investors and future home-owners at Pickett Street.

1 Comment

  1. Excellent post John. After reading this I am even more inspired to take advantage of the wholesaling opportunities that have been presented to us in today’s RE market, looking forward to working with you even more these next few weeks and months!

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