Real Estate Auctions: Find Great Deals On New Homes

There are innumerous cities in the U.S. where builders are holding new home auctions ... and not on the courthouse steps! If you want to find some good ones, just do a simple search on the Internet. You may also check with local builders, or call some of the real estate agencies in your area. Builders will sometimes use incentives to entice real estate agents to bring potential buyers. Typically builders will give real estate agents a percentage of the sale price when they bring in a closing buyer.

Another good place to check for new home auctions is through your county sheriff's office. Many new homes have been repossessed either from the builder or from the homeowner and are scheduled to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps ... really. Some counties have websites that specify homes that will be going up for auction by the sheriff's department, including the status of the sale, scheduled sale date, time of sale, case number, lien holder, attorney for the lien holder, phone number for attorney for the lien holder, homeowner's name and other information.

Determining whether the home is new will take a little bit of digging, however. You'll need to find out the case number, since the address of the home is recorded under the case number filed in the courthouse. Note the case number and call the civil division of the courthouse. A clerk in the civil division will be able to tell you the address of the property. Now, you need to contact the Registrar of Deeds and talk to a clerk there. The clerk will be able to tell you the details about the home, including the date it was built.

Although, you may be able to get a better deal through a foreclosure auctioned on the courthouse steps, some states allow the homeowner redemption rights for a period of time after the auction. Just because you are the winning bidder, doesn't mean you can take immediate possession of the home. You may still have to wait for the redemption period to end before you can take possession. If the homeowner is able to redeem the home, then you've wasted time, effort and maybe even money in the process.

Another option is foreclosures auctioned off by the lender. Lenders have been known to hire auction companies to conduct auctions of several homes they hold in the area. Real estate agencies may be privy to this information, so you may want to contact a few in the area for this information. The local major city newspaper is a great source for this information, too.

If you decide to go to a builder-held auction (or any home auction, for that matter), you'll need to be prepared. Oftentimes, the builder will schedule a date(s) for potential homeowners to preview the home. They typically require notification and details by a certain date of those who will be viewing the home during the scheduled preview. Once the auction date arrives, in order to bid you will need a notarized note from your lending institution or bank stating that you are financially capable of purchasing the home.


Jill works at Inside Fort Worth. Their site provides information about Fort Worth. They provide a free search of the Fort Worth MLS along with updated market stats on their Fort Worth blog.

Guide to Equity Release

Very simply, equity release is a scheme that allows elderly homeowners to free up some or all of the value (the equity) tied up in their place of residence. Despite their indisputable popularity, the Consumers' Association magazine Which? Has branded the schemes as expensive and inflexible, to be used only as a last resort.

Although there are currently more than 40 variants of equity release schemes, they all fall into one or other of two broad categories - "lifetime mortgages" and "home reversion" schemes. In the former, the owner is offered a mortgage secured against the property for the term of his lifetime. This is repaid by rolling up all the interest payments which fall due either when the owner dies or when the property is sold. The mortgage comes with a guarantee that this repayment figure will never be greater than the market value of the home and such lifetime mortgages are subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority.

With a home reversion scheme, the homeowner sells part or whole of his property to a finance company, for a cash sum or an annuity, but continues to enjoy lifetime enjoyment of his home (or until he moves out), more or less as a rent-free tenant. When the occupier dies or moves out, the finance company sells the property to recover its outlay and passes on any remaining proceeds to the occupier's estate. Currently, such home reversion schemes are not subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority.

So, what is wrong with either of these schemes, both of which give elderly homeowners the chance to enjoy the considerable amount of equity likely to be tied up in their home (when most properties are likely to have doubled in value since as recently as the 1990s)?

The answer - as is usually the case with all financial services products - is that there is nothing at all wrong in principle; it's all down to the detail of cost and benefit. In other words, it's absolutely imperative to do the sums, consider all the alternatives, and judge whether the amount being offered by way of a lifetime mortgage or home reversion fairly represents the present and future value of the property. Critics have described the schemes as "expensive" because of the generally "high" rates of interest attached to lifetime mortgages and the generally "low" prices offered to homeowners in home reversion schemes.

But the terms "high" and "low" are of course relative. Competition with the market and the proliferation of products to suit different needs means that "fair" is whatever the market will sustain.

Given the particular nature of these types of scheme, it makes sense to discuss any interest in equity release not only with a trusted independent financial adviser, but also with members of your own family. Clearly, many such schemes will affect any expectations of inheriting the "family home" that other family-members might have. Similarly, any younger partner, relative or friend who might be sharing your home with you at present might (depending on the terms of the particular scheme) be obliged to find other housing if you die.

So, here's what to remember about Equity Release schemes:

* Suited for older homeowners who may have a lot of equity tied up in their home

* There are two types: lifetime mortgages and home reversion schemes

* This type of borrowing has attracted a lot of negative press due to high costs, so always thoroughly research the product before signing up

* If you sign up to an Equity Release scheme and have friends or relatives living with you, check out what their rights to the property would be when you die to ensure they are not without a roof over their head.


Find out more about equity release at http://www.confused.com/mortgages