I bought my first house at auction in 1979 in Williamsville, New York and I paid $23,200 for it. That house was rehabbed for under $8,000 and was sold for a profit of slightly over $20,000 within three months.
It only took me one transaction to get hooked buying homes at auction. This was my first real estate investment and it was the beginning of many things to come.
Of course there was another side to this first purchase at a foreclosure auction. On the day we had to evict the homeowner, it turned out he had a warrant for his arrest. Seven sheriff’s cars showed up and took him away in handcuffs because the warrant for his arrest charged that he swung an ax at a police officer.
One of the keys to be successful in the real estate business is to buy when people have to sell or are forced to sell.
This is a basic business principle that ties in to the first question I asked myself when evaluating a property:
“Who will buy this house from me for more money than I am paying?”
This house in the Atlanta metro area was purchased at a foreclosure auction for under $100,000 and sold to an investor in a shared-equity program.
Since 1979 I have bought hundreds of homes at auction and typically I average over 100 house acquisitions per year. I am fresh off a mortgage foreclosure auction in early August where I acquired 15 houses.
I don’t write this to brag or pat myself on the back. It’s written so that you know that I have the experience and I am worthy to dispense my advice to real estate investors like you.
There is a system I have created that works very well for me and it is my hope that you can use some of the information I provide to take action and make money now.
More importantly, if you heed my advice that comes from the experience of over 3,000 real estate transactions over the last 30 years, hopefully you will avoid pitfalls I have encountered. Experience comes at a price and it always best to learn from someone else’s experience. But in reality, we learn the most from our own experiences, particularly the bad ones.
Life is up and down, and we never acquire much wisdom when everything is going perfectly. The time we learn and change our approach to business is when we are in the midst of problem solving. These are the experiences that shape our destiny as we respond and react to the challenges of business and life itself.
After all, life is a series of challenges that have to be met. And you know what? Thank God or your mother for the challenges that are in your own path, otherwise life would be pretty boring.
The good times will never feel good if we didn’t have some bad times as well. More importantly, overcoming challenges gives meaning to our lives. If you really want to know how important this is read Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
So, roll up your sleeves and prepare to dig in as I serve you the most important information on how to be successful at auction.
The topics I will cover in my upcoming blogs are:
- Begin with the end in mind
- Most important aspect to buy houses at auction
- How to determine value
- Data you need to have
- What you should never do
- Tactics for bidding
- Online bidding caveats
- Exactly what I do
Over the course of this blog, feel free to email me specific questions to RJP@BuyCashFlowProperties.com.
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