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A $1.1 million, four-bedroom house in Weddington sold for $665,000.
And a $225,000, 3-acre lot in Boone went for $60,000.
These were among 102 foreclosed properties from across the Carolinas that were auctioned at bargain prices Saturday in a packed ballroom at the Marriott City Center in uptown Charlotte.
More than 200 investors and potential homebuyers watched, listened and occasionally waved their assigned bidding numbers at fast-talking, tuxedo-wearing auctioneers from Real Estate Disposition Corp.
The California-based company contracts with banks and other mortgage lenders to sell foreclosed properties at similar mega-auctions around the country.
“It's always better to have someone in the house, paying taxes again,” said auctioneer Mark Buleziuk. “We're taking a bad situation and just trying to make it better.”
Saturday's auction was the first in an eight-day, seven-city series that includes stops in Raleigh (today), Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis and Atlanta.
“It's a great model to bring the buyers and the sellers together,” said REDC spokesman Rick Weinberg. “It cuts the process from months to seconds or minutes to purchase a property….We've done an enormous business. The market has exploded.”
At another Charlotte auction in March, 144 properties sold for a total of $8.5 million, Weinberg said. This year alone, the company – whose Web site is www.auction.com – has sold 20,000 foreclosed properties for $1.3 billion.
In the Charlotte-area and statewide, foreclosure filings have jumped in recent months. That follows a temporary respite caused by a federal moratorium and state law that delayed proceedings. Because filings were delayed, there could be a surge of final foreclosures in months to come. Layoffs and wage cuts also increase the likelihood of foreclosures.
Charlotte-area home prices were down 10 percent in April compared with a year ago, according to an index that tracks repeat sales of existing homes. Foreclosures, which also depress the value of nearby homes, are contributing to price declines.
At Saturday's auction, many houses sold for less than half of their previous asking prices.
“If I can buy anything cheap and turn around and sell it for a profit, I'll do it,” said Allyn Morrow, a land speculator from Wilkes County.
He bought two properties Saturday, including a lot with a double-wide trailer across from a lake in Boomer, N.C. He bid $20,000 for the property, previously valued at $78,000. He also got a three-bedroom house on 3 acres in Roaring River, N.C., for $30,000. It was previously valued at $79,900.
“I spent 12 grand less than I thought I would pay,” said a pleased Morrow. He hopes to make $20,000 profit on each property after he spends about $3,000 each to fix them up.
Realtor Jim Rumph and his wife, Linda, drove from Greenville, S.C., looking for investment property, too. He had attended a similar auction in Florida, where his client got a $575,000 deal on a Marco Island house that had sold for $1.25 million in 2005.
On Saturday, the Rumphs bought two properties, including a three-bedroom house in Greenville for $25,000. The house had been for sale for $40,000, and Rumph said houses in the same neighborhood have sold for $90,000 and $75,000 in recent months.
Rumph hadn't researched the second house, a two-bedroom in Gray Court, S.C., southeast of Greenville. But he couldn't pass it up for only $7,500 – “An acre of land ought to be worth that.”
This was their “first shot at doing this type of investing,” but they have gotten the bug.
Linda Rumph now wants to drive to Knoxville for the auction there Monday. But if they don't, Jim Rumph said, she'll probably follow the bidding online.
Staff writer Stella Hopkins contributed.
