Foreclosed properties go for 14 cents on dollar

[FarCenter]

More than 100 homes and lots were auctioned off in New York City for shadows of their former inflated values; a $595K Bahamas oceanfront acre fetched $84,000.

More than a thousand real estate bargain hunters spent $13.2 million Sunday snapping up foreclosed homes in New York and New Jersey during an auction in New York City. In addition, two successful bidders walked away with oceanfront lots in the Bahamas—at discounts of about 85%.

At its last New York City event for the summer, Real Estate Disposition Corp.’s Auction.com put 149 properties on the block, including 10 vacant lots totaling 2.5 acres located in Cistern Cay on the Berry Islands, just northwest of Nassau.

“The oceanfront lots in the Bahamas turned out to be a steal,” said Jeff Frieden, Auction.com’s chief executive, in a statement. “We’re pleased with the results.”

The 10 Bahama lots were divided and auctioned off in two blocks: one 1.4-acre lot and one 1.1-acre lot. Starting bids for each block was $29,000. They sold for $91,875 and $84,000, respectively. Each auctioned block was officially valued at $595,000.

Other deals of the day included the sale of a 1,498-square-foot, four-bedroom house in Suffolk County, L.I., for $126,000, 67% less than its stated value of $381,000, and the sale of an artsy 3,150-square-foot, 18-room, seven-bedroom house in the Bronx, for $367,500, 37% less than its estimated value of $595,000.

“These auctions will clear up inventory,” says Bill Staniford, CEO of PropertyShark.com. “We will see more foreclosed homes auctioned off.”

<SNIP> http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090817/FREE/908179976

[Atman]

1. Gosh, and who do you think will buy them up now that everyone else is broke?

BRILLIANT!

.

[dysfunctional press]

3. shades of what happened to the farmers in the seventies...

1.loan money against inflated property values.
2.adjust property values downward.
3.call in the notes
4.pick up LOTS of property for dirt cheap prices
5.indebted former landowners left wondering "what just happened?"
6.
it's a wonderful life if you can get it.

[flvegan]

2. Unfortunately, fact is, if you have money now, real estate is a bargain.

I recently watched closings of a golf course and an entire condominium complex here in Florida that went for an absolute song.

[SheilaT]

4. Some of the mansions in Newport, RI, which cost

several million dollars to build during the Gilded Age, went for about $100,000 during the Depression.