Q's on foreclosure process and public sources of information
I am not an investor, but this is the closest newsgroup that I though might
have the knowldge to help me out. There is only one piece of property
(Kalamazoo county, MI) that I am interested in buying so I can fix it up
and move there. The owners have abandoned the property, it has gone through
the mortgage sale process, and just finished the redemption period.
As far as I know, that means the bank (Fifth Third) owns it now.
Unfortunately, the bank refuses to give any information on what they plan
to do with it, or which real estate company they might sell it through. My
guess is it would have to go up for auction, as the building is falling
down and should probably be condemned. So, now I have to try and figure out
for myself when and where it will sell, with enough wiggle-room to get some
finances together to bid on it (e.g. finding out with a day or two notice
would prevent me from being a bidder).
Can anyone tell me what legal paperwork (and therefore available as public
records?) has to be processed for any steps in the bank's foreclosure and
pre-sale process, so I can at least try to keep tabs that way? I don't live
in that county yet so it isn't terribly convenient to monitor the paper or
postings at the county courthouse.
If I really wanted it, I would send them a letter certified return
receipt notifying them of my desire. Just don't make it an actual
offer. You need to be able to do an inspection etc.
The actual transfer would be basically like any other real estate
closing. One difference is that you'll receive a so called specail
warranty deed. The only thing special about it is that the bank is not
warrantying the title beyond the period they had title. Get an
attorney to review everything before submitting an actual offer, he can
make sure you're protected with title insurance.
Go downtown and read the foreclosure file, it may have something of
interest in it.