Upcoming foreclosure auctions.

The foreclosure auctions you see advertised on television are vastly different than the foreclosure auction held on the county courthouse steps. These advertised auctions are just marketing gimmicks to try to generate time urgency and try to get bidders to bid close to market value for a home. These auctions are not absolute auctions, the lender defines a reserve and depending on various factors the auctioneer can either bid up to the reserve with no other bidders (though it seems like there are bidders the way they conduct the auction) or just let the auction flow and see what bids they get. After the final bids are in the lenders will then decide whether or not they want to accept the bids they received or counter offer to the highest bidder. It is basically a starting point for negotiations unless the bidding gets in the ballpark of market value.

Here are the coming auctions for Ventura and Los Angeles county:

• Hudson & Marshall Southern California Auction, you can also bid before the auction if you find a property you like and depending on the bid the property can be sold before the auction is held. This auction will be held from June 7th, 2008 to June 14th, 2008
• Real Estate Disposition Corporation Southern California Auction, REDC advertises a lot on television and the auctions are generally well attended. The Los Angeles area auction will be held June 14th. Ventura County auction will be held June 25th.
• National Home Auction will have a Los Angeles area auction on July 27th, there are is a smattering of Ventura area homes in there as well.

There are smaller auctioneers, like Kennedy-Wilson and Catalist Homes doing small auctions but nothing of note in the local area. You may want to keep an eye on them in the future.