There are several ways to purchase property include the traditional method of making an offer through your real estate on property that you have physically seen and have had inspected by a home inspector prior to making an offer. While this may be the traditional way to buy property it is generally not the most cost effective. Even in a poor housing market the bank and the real estate agent will want to tack on their commissions and the owner will generally want to walk away with some profit. This is good method for the first time home owner who doesn’t want to color outside the lines or risk buying property unseen and possibly uninspected as well. Another method to purchase property that is definitely for the more daring investor is to purchase precision property inspections through an online property auction.
While you may not be able to physically inspect the property if you are a long distance bidder you at least can get the vital statistics on the property in question and ask for more information from the auctioneer. Most of the property being auctioned off is normally auctioned on the court house steps by the sheriff’s department on property that has back taxes due or has been foreclosed on. This traditional method of auction has simply found a new market with the use of the internet so now buyers can bid without being present. The property under bid can be a family home or just a lot of land. Usually the taxes or bank loan owed on these pieces of property are well below the value of the land or home itself so a savvy bidder can find property that can be purchased for a fraction of its market value.
The first step to start the process in an online property auction is to find a web site that lists the property in the state you are interested in. Many online auction sites will have property listed throughout the United States making it easier for the consumer to compare values across the states. Inspect the property before you bid- even if you can’t do this physically you are given enough information to do it on the web. Most online property auction web sites will list the legal address of the property and the notice of the tax sale that was posted and sent to the last legal owner.
They should also list the delinquency amount and any assessment data that may help you in determining if the property is worth purchasing. If you do your own homework and utilize the information you are given by the auction web site you can safely make a bid that you are comfortable with online for property that you may be able to pick up literally for pennies on the dollar and wonder why you ever bought property any other way.