Anybody know about foreclosures?

There is a unit in our condo complex that is going up for auction I guess. We are considering buying it as an investment (clean it up a little and sell) but we don't know anything about it.

Does anyone know if you actually go and bid on it? How and who finds out about the existing liens or back taxes?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated


P.S.- It up here in Buffalo, otherwise I would try to 'hook-up' one of our LIW ladies who is in the market.

the only thing that makes me nervous about foreclosures...si taht sometimes people get p*ssed off that they are losing it and do awful things to the house...like dump cement down the toilet...etc...and you are not allowed to inspect the inside...

but my guess is that a condo would be a little different...tough to tell...

Yeh, we've thought of that too. This condo is in our same complex, and we know it was a older lady, so we're doubting she destroyed the place, but I guess you never know.
It goes up for public auction 9/8 so we don't have much time to figure it all out.

Thanks for the reply!

Sent you FM

jeng...my guess is that she didn't do anything to it...but it probably needs major updating...

Thanks for the feedback......

We don't expect that the unit has been updated at all. Ours when we bought it hadn't been updated either, and at this price it would still be a good investment.
We have looked into how you pay. If it goes to auction and it's through the Sheriff's office, then the total is due at 4 the same day. A little scarey but doable.

We do plan on using an attorney if we decide to go as far as making an offer. We spoke with the Bank's attorney this morning and they said that they would consider an offer prior to the auction.

We did check on local, county and school taxes, and the property is paid up to date on them.
We are now deciding on whether or not to pay to find out about liens. Is a title search the only way to find out about liens? and how far back should the search go? We did go to the county clerk, but they can't tell us if the liens are attached to this specific property, only to the specific person. Or is that the same thing???

I really appreciate the feedback. We're on the fence of whether to pursue this further. I mean, there is a chance that it could work out well, but then there are the pit falls already pointed out..........maybe nothing venture, nothing gained??? I must admit it is very intrigueing (sp?)!