Have you attended a “Sheriff’s Sale” public auction of property?
What’s it like?
I’d like to get a good idea of what it’s like because I’ll be bidding on a property in the San Francisco City Hall next month and I definitely do not want to screw up.
The property that I’ll be bidding on is for half interest in an apartment building.
I want to bid on the auction of half of a specific apartment building because I own the half that’s not for sale. I’m prepared to bid up $500K and pay in cash on the date/time of sale.
For those of you who may or may not remember my earlier question related to this: Yes this is the same apartment building that I lost in a convoluted and crazy legal action with DIR (Department of Industrial Relations). I recently turned down an offer by the DIR to buy back half of the apartment building for $750K.
I am however prepared to buy back half of the apartment building with a reasonable but low bid.
The San Fransisco Sheriff’s Department “Notice of Sheriff’s Sale” states that they will sell this property at public auction to the highest bidder (at a specific place, date, time).
I’m thinking that I may be the only one bidding. After all who (besides me) would want to bid to purchase HALF of an apartment building? Who wants to become co-owner in anything with a stranger? Perhaps a bank? Realestate company? Anyway, If someone bids on this property, then I’ll be there to make sure that they don’t get it for free and anything next to it.
Thanks for your time.
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7 Answers
If there is any chance anyone related to the sale can find this post, I’d remove the amounts you are willing to go to. Hopefully this is anonymous/generic enough, since auctions and other sale negotiations tend to go less well for someone when the other side knows their price limits and/or thinking.
I looked into such sales in the past and attended a couple. It depends on who else knows and is interested in the same things. Often such sales can be fairly obscure and/or have a low number of (or one or zero) serious buyers. That’s when you can get things for far under market value.
What I’ve heard about banks is they usually don’t want to own any general real estate. I don’t think conventional real estate companies go around buying property – they usually just rake in commissions on sales between others. But there are real estate investors, who often have real estate agent friends.
I imagine it depends on what the terms of co-ownership are like, too.
It could be a good time to talk to a lawyer to understand the details of the situation better.
You may not be able to bid since it would be viewed as a “conflict of interest.” Check with whoever is in charge, like the sheriff, and certain legal entities to see if you can.
When my mother lost her house in a reverse mortgage instance, it stated clearly in the lawsuit papers that we could not bid.
@kritiper That may have been part of the “reverse mortgage” contract, because a default on her part would allow her to receive goods at a discount.
@gondwanalon There maybe someone that wants buy and hopes to flip to the owner of the other half.
@Tropical_Willie It may still not be kosher because it would allow the bidder an opportunity to cheat the seller out of $250,000.
Thank you all for your input. I appreciate it very much.
I’ll consult with our attorney before showing up at the Sheriff’s Sale.
The seller is the DIR (attorneys). They ONLY want one thing and that is money. They don’t care where the money comes from. Like I said, they offered to sell the apartment building back to my wife and I.
The DIR fabricated an absolutely false claim that I and my wife colluded with my brother in law to hide his resources and the judge bought it (BIL last year lost a law suit for $6 Million).
The DIR attorneys are the cheaters (feels like extortion). Watching them in action in the courtroom made my skin crawl. It was sickening to hear the lies they presented about my wife and I (we did NOTHING wrong). We spent $125K in our defense so far and are the true victims of a twisted legal system.
My wife wants to cut our losses but I want to try this one last thing.
It is my intension to acquire the other half of the apartment building for a reasonably low price and then sell it as a whole ASAP.
@kritiper You correct that my bid may not be kosher.
FYI: My attorney today told me to do nothing (Don’t bid because I ”...may not be deemed a Bonafide third party purchaser for value”). My attorney and the DIR both believe that no one will bid to buy the ½ interest in the property (banks included). And she and the DIR are in settlement discussions.
DIR wants me to pay them off if the property isn’t sold with in one year but my attorney says that according to the court settlement the payoff must be tied to the sale of the property. The DIR can’t force me to sell my half or buy the DIR’s half.
Is this like a catch 22?
Mean while I just keep writing checks. HA!
What a cluster-something!
Yes, it’s a cluster something. Hope it works out for you.
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