Trustee Sales
Anyone who wants to purchase a home well below market value can purchase a home at a trustee sale. This would include investors and owner occupants. Investors should add trustee sales to their arsenal for acquiring property in real estate. Any owner occupant would have an advantage over an investor. An owner occupant is always willing to bid more than an investor because an owner occupant is not worried about holding costs or resell profit as an investor. So trustee sales are great for prospective home owners.
The majority of trustee sales are the result of the borrower failing to maintain payments on the loan. If a borrower has stopped making payments, the lender will initiate actions to get the borrower to bring the loan current. The borrower will receive notice to bring the loan current or attempt to make other arrangements with the lender. If neither alternative is successful, then the lender will send a written notice of acceleration and give the borrower a fairly short period of time to cure the default. If the borrower does not cure the default within the allotted time, then the lender will notify the trustee.
The trustee now gives notice to the borrower and will give public notice usually by advertising in a newspaper having general circulation in the area the property is located. In Virginia, as an example, the trustee must advertise no less than once a day for three days. A copy of the advertisement must be mailed to the homeowner no less then fourteen days prior to the trustee sale. The trustee cannot sell any earlier then eight days after the first advertisement and no later than thirty days after the last advertisement. The borrowers’ deed of trust will outline the process the trustee is to follow. If the deed of trust is silent in this regard, then Virginia requires an ad to be run once a week for four successive weeks.
The Trustee will auction the property to the highest bidder, usually at the county court house steps. The winning bidder will have to put up a significant deposit, usually 10% in certified funds. If the property is sold to someone other than the lender, settlement is required in a very short timeframe, usually ten to twenty days. As you can see, this can be a very quick process and requires a significant deposit which deters most people.
These properties are also purchased in the purest form of "as-is" and usually site unseen. Well, except for a drive by the exterior of the property. Any buyer interested in bidding on one of these homes, need to have a title search done to avoid any additional surprises like a tax lien.
Properties sold as trustee sales are always subject to any tax liens and Senior loans. For Example, if the second trust company is the first to foreclose, then the buyer will still be responsible for the balance of the first trust plus any tax liens on the property.Samuel I. White, P.C. (Foreclosure Trustee)
Draper & Goldberg, PLLC (Foreclosure Trustee)
Glasser and Glasser, P.L.C. (Foreclosure Trustee)
Bierman, Geesing & Ward, LLC (Foreclosure Trustee)
ReConTrust (Foreclosure Trustee)
Rosenberg and Associates, LLC (Foreclosure Trustee)