March 31 (Bloomberg) — During the U.S. housing boom, even amateur investors could buy and sell a property within a couple of months and turn a profit. Today there’s nothing amateur about house flipping.
Homes with punctured walls and missing appliances draw multiple offers from professional investors at auctions in foreclosure-ridden states such as Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada. Competition is so stiff that experienced flippers such as Sergio Rodriguez and Brian Bogenn look back with nostalgia at last year, when they turned over 48 residences in the Phoenix area.
“A year ago, bums outnumbered bidders at the courthouse steps,” where many foreclosure auctions take place, Rodriguez said. “Now the bums are way outnumbered.”
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Florida County To Add Online Bidding
Florida’s Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, which has the state’s third-highest foreclosure rate, is taking an innovative step to make selling foreclosed properties faster and easier.
Broward plans to introduce an online system where bidders can make offers on properties from anywhere in the world. The online system is expected to market as many as 1,000 homes a week, double the number sold at courthouse auctions, says Broward Clerk of Courts Howard C. Forman.
Participants must put down a deposit equal to 5 percent of the estimated high bid for each property they hope to buy. When all participants have entered their best bid on a property, the system will evaluate them and declare the highest bidder the winner.
Officials say the online auctions will speed up the process, allow staff to do other things, and potentially save thousands of dollars every month.
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