Table of Contents
Introduction Part I 12
Introduction Part II 15
Part I Fortune Favors the Prepared 22
Chapter 1 Risk and Reward 23
The Foreclosure Process 24
Opportunities in the Foreclosure Timeline 26
The Risks of Buying at Auction 28
The Rewards of Buying at Auction 31
The Risk-Reward Connection 33
Chapter 2 Tools of the Trade 35
Deacon versus Jasmine: Two Approaches to the Courthouse Steps 37
Fishing versus Hunting 38
Improving Your Numbers 39
The Tools of the Courthouse Warrior 40
Taking the Numbers Game to the Next Level 44
Chapter 3 Assembling Your Team 45
Time, Money, and Teleportation 46
Your Auction A-Team 47
Tips for Building a Great Team 51
Fishing and the Love of the Process 52
Wait! There Are Resources! 53
Part II The Five Steps 54
Chapter 4 Step 1: The List 55
It's Worth It 56
How to Build Your First Foreclosure List 58
Filtering Your List 66
Listin' Ain't Easy 68
Chapter 5 Step 2: The Drive-By 70
Start Up Your Best Risk-Management Tool 71
Your Drive-By Goals 72
The Drive-By Process 73
The Best Time for Your Drive-By 76
Drive-By versus Drop-In 76
What Do I Say? 77
Capturing Property Information 78
A Reminder: Drive-By information Keeps on Giving 80
There's No Substitute for a Drive-By 81
Find the Secret 83
Chapter 6 Step 3: Property Analysis 86
Property Analysis: The Big Picture 87
A Resale Price 88
1 Take a Bird's-Eye View 89
2 Look for Sales History and Comparable Properties 91
3 Adjust Your Comparables 95
Valuation Example 96
The Dangers of Square-Foot Pricing 97
B Costs 100
Consistent Line Items 100
Miscellaneous Overhead 101
Construction Costs 101
Back to the Bid Sheet 102
Help! 103
The Art of Analysis 105
Chapter 7 Step 4: Title Review 107
What Is Title? 108
Lien on Me 108
The Auction Difference 108
Three Ways to Do Title Review 109
The Task at Hand: Find and Prioritize Surviving Title Risks 112
A Check for Outstanding Property Taxes 113
B Find the L's: Liens, Lawsuits, and Liabilities 115
C Filter and Prioritize Your Findings 120
Which Loan Are You Buying? 121
Title Déjà Vu 123
Disclaimer: Go to the Pros 123
Title Research Pays Off 123
It's Time to Get Ready for Auction! 124
Chapter 8 Step 5: The Auction 125
The Foreclosure Auction Mindset 127
The Auction Experience 128
Solving the Paradox of Auction 131
Preparing for Auction 131
To Bid or Not to Bid 136
Onward to Part III 137
Part III Next Steps and Advanced Moves 138
Chapter 9 Behavioral Auctionomics 139
From Uncertain to Surreal 140
Tilt! 141
1 Have the Right Goal 142
2 Know Your Bid in Advance 142
3 Arrive Early and Prepared 143
4 Listen Carefully 143
5 Don't Bid on Unknown or Discarded Properties 144
6 Bring a Voice of Reason 145
7 Accept Going Home Empty-Handed 145
8 Trust Yourself and the Process 146
9 Don't Worry About Bidding Style 146
Money, Money, Everywhere 147
Sold! To the Person with the Foreclosure Book! 147
Chapter 10 Now What? 148
Check the Receipt 148
Head to the Property 149
Next Steps for Vacant Properties 149
Next Steps for Occupied Properties 153
Eviction 156
The Night of the Auction: Partner Update 158
A Week (or So) Later: Title Recording 158
Disclose, Disclose, Disclose 159
The Elephant in the Room 159
Chapter 11 Money 161
The Cash Barrier 162
Broke and Buying at Auction 162
The Reality of Foreclosure Finance 164
Two Degrees of Kevin Bacon 164
1 Finding Potential Investors 164
2 Selling Your Plan 165
Creating a Financial Arrangement 167
Aligned Incentives 169
The Trick to Auction Money: Just Start 169
Chapter 12 Your First Courthouse Step 171
The Other Upside 172
Acknowledgments 175