Competitive Foreclosure Auction in Naples, Florida

Even homes priced above $1 million are now getting a lot of bids from foreclosure auction participants that are not representing real estate investment companies.

Recently, lawyer Marc Shapiro who has been buying foreclosure auction properties for years, has been outbid on a four-bedroom house by an individual investor whom he has not seen in previous foreclosure homes held in Collier County.

The house, which has a private access to a beach, was sold at $1,427,000, higher than Shapiro’s bid of $1.2 million, but a bargain compared to the original value of almost $2.9 million.

Shapiro said that more and more people are participating in foreclosure auctions. He said that in the past, Collier County Clerk of Courts foreclosure for sale were attended by only about two or three bank representatives.

But now, he said, about 30 to 50 people are participating in auctions and the bidding is getting competitive.

Both individual and corporate investors are looking for foreclosure auction properties to buy, fix and rent out or resell.

In Naples, the most active companies in foreclosure auctions are Asset Services, MFC Investments LLC, Greater Atlantic Investments LLC and United Equities and Real Estate Group.

Shapiro also observed that investors are getting back into the market because home buyers are finally acting on their home purchase plans.

Especially for lower priced properties, sales of existing homes have been increasing these past several months in Naples and other parts of Collier County. Investors and first time buyers have been taking advantage of lower foreclosure auction prices.

In May, the median home resale price decreased to $174,000, a significant drop from the median of $314,000 in May 2008, based on data from the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
Houses priced below $300,000 are getting sold more quickly than in the past.

To participate in a Naples foreclosure auction, one needs to have the five-percent deposit before bidding and must be able to complete payment by the next day.

For a five-bedroom house in Golden Gate, the bidding last week started at $200 and increased by $4,000 and later by $100. It finally stopped at the bid of $80,500 by United Equities.

United Equities is headed by Glenn Vereen who buys foreclosure auction homes, repairs them and the resells them usually to first time home buyers.

Vereen said he is a regular foreclosure auction participant, buying six properties in May and four in the first week of June.

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