The first thing I want you to know is all information about county sheriff sale events across America is free and covered under state's Freedom of Information Act. If you want to pay someone to collect this on your behalf that is your decision. I just don't want anyone to be taken advantage of by a company that states it's necessary to pay them a fee for these lists of properties because that is not true. What ever the case make sure you exercise your right to be an informed citizen and only pay for things out of convenience instead of trickery. While it may take a small bit of effort you can always get your hands on the documents about your county sheriff sales at no charge to you.
The second thing is local authorities conduct these types of sales around the country every year and even several times a year depending upon location in an auction type of format. One thing to understand is that while all jurisdictions conduct forced sales the 5 different types of properties listed below some localities may call their auction something other than a county sheriff sale. The deciding factor is wither a sheriff is the one presiding over the sale or another authority. The quickest way to get the answer to this question is to just pick up the phone and ask your local sheriff's office. If they are not the ones conducting the auction they will be able to point you to the right department.
The next thing has to do with the common misconception is that one can purchase almost any property for little to nothing. Yes, It is entirely possible to buy at a nice discount but only if you have a deeper knowledge of the process, people involved, and best properties to target. However, the opportunity to plunk down amounts under one hundred dollars and walk away with a piece of land or a home is quite small.
Most Common Types of Properties sold at local sheriff's sales (In no special order):
1. Properties to satisfy a judgment.
2. Mortgage foreclosure properties.
3. Distressed properties with municipal liens.
4. Tax sale properties.
5. Government seized properties.
One of the key factors in finding a good deal is to understand how to properly research the list of potential investment candidates. The first thing we want to do is correctly establish the owner or record. This is important because often people focus on properties that have little to no chance of getting at a good price. An example of this would be foreclosures that have recent mortgages (1 - 10 years) a substantial amount of money owed upon them. If this is the case the first bidder is usually the bank because they will not let their property go at prices such as twenty cents on the dollar. After, they bid the property up and successfully purchase themselves they are free to sell it in the free market to recover a much larger amount of their money. In other words it is often difficult to purchase these types of properties at a county sheriff sale at a price that will make it worth while.
This does not mean you should give up on the idea of buy real estate at these types of forced auctions. It just means you should focus your efforts on properties that the government owns or controls. A few from the above list would be seized, tax sale, and ones with municipal liens. There is a good reason why this statement is usually true because the local government is concerned about recovering monies owed to them first. This means things such as market value and other factors one usually worries about when selling a property is not a priority. In other words this is the niche where you have better opportunity when attending sheriffs sales.
If you want to get an idea of what a minimum bid may be on these properties all you need to do is go to your local treasurers or property tax office and pull the file on the parcel in question. Remember, when you go to do this to have the identifying number in hand. Depending upon your part of the country it may be called folio number, tax map number, parcel number, or another variation. This will give you an idea of the lowest amount the local authorities will accept at a county sheriff sale but keep in mind you may have competition from other buyers which will cause the price to go up. Then it would be smart to compare that figure to what it would sell and you'll have a decent set of numbers to base any potential bidding decision upon.
The last thing you may want to do before you try and purchase any piece of property at your county sheriff sale is to simply go on a drive. I mean actually get in your car and drive by the real estate that most interests you. This will tell you a whole lot about the neighborhood and give you further insight into the condition of the property and it's potential future use. The numbers on paper are vital but a bit of good old fashion "gum shoe" detective work often can pay dividends as well. Good Luck and please remember one thing. It's your money so invest it wisely!
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