Home auctioneers are back in action – Los Angeles Times
A sign of the distressed real estate market and growing volume of foreclosures, the auction of 92 homes, condominiums and apartment buildings in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties was the kind of event not seen in the Southland for more than a decade. In fact, the company that staged the auction “” Real Estate Disposition Corp. of Irvine “” came out of hibernation to do it, said its chairman, Rob Friedman.
The winning bidders had to tack on a 5% commission to the purchase price. The discounts were 10% to 20%, according to the article. Given the 5% fee and the inherent risk in buying at auctions, you would really need a 20% to 30% discount from the market value.
“The market is not nearly as bad as it was back in the ’90s,” Friedman said. “We’re having a correction. It’s not going to be a major league correction”¦. People are getting a discount today, but probably not a huge discount.”
In fact, many of the investors walked without buying because the prices were too steep.