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Benefits and Risks of Buying a Bank Auction Property

Author: Houssed | Posted on: 01-Feb-2023
Benefits and Risks of Buying a Bank Auction Property

People often believe that property sold at auction by a bank is unsafe to purchase. Let us break this myth and discover the unique features of buying such properties.

Has anyone ever thought you could purchase a property in a bank auction? Yes! One can bid on the property and buy it in a bank auction, and banks conduct many auctions.

There might be so many endless questions running through the minds of buyers, and some of them are, are there any risks that may happen when they purchase the bank auction property? What will be the benefits of buying these properties, how to participate in the auction and many others?

6 Things to Know About Bank Auction Properties

1: Dealing With Squatters

There is a misconception that one must deal with squatters if one wants to purchase any bank auction properties, but this is untrue. When someone gets the original documents from the bank after purchasing, that property's owner is theirs and no one else's.

If the previous owners are staying in that property or renting it to someone else, they have to get out of the property, which is to be done by the original owner.

2: Buying After Failed Auction

Another misconception that one has is that if there is an auction that fails, then one can't buy that property. But they can go to the bank and then they can purchase that property from the bank. However, it depends on the bank whether they want to sell that property to you, but you never know!

3: Bank can't Reclaim Property.

This is one of the most common queries in potential buyers' minds: what if they purchase any bank auction property and then the bank reclaims that property?

This is a time to burst the bubble and know the truth! Banks can not reclaim the property once they issue the certificate of sale to the buyer.

4: Amazing Rates

One can find the best property rates in a bank auction, which is one of the prime benefits of purchasing bank auction properties. One can get the property at almost 15-20% less than the market rates, making the properties more affordable to buy by potential buyers.

5: Ideal Locations

One can find one of the best locations for the properties they will purchase in a bank auction. The properties are located in very posh areas and from where one can find themselves connected to the central city.

6: Very Convenient

Another benefit buyers get while purchasing the properties of a bank auction is convenience. The purchase is all fraud-free, and they don't need any kind of middle person to get the property. They can go to the auction and bid on the properties.

3 Benefits of Buying a Bank Auction Property

1: Amazing Rates

One can find the best rates of the property in a bank auction, which is one of the prime benefits of purchasing bank auction properties. One can get the property at almost 15-20% less than the market rates, making the properties more affordable to buy by potential buyers.

2: Lovely Locations

One can find one of the best locations for the properties they will purchase in a bank auction. The properties are located in very posh areas and from where one can find themselves connected to the central city.

3: Very Convenient

Another benefit buyers get while purchasing the properties of a bank auction is convenience. The purchase is all fraud-free and they don't need any kind of middle person to get the property. They can go to the auction and bid on the properties.

3 Risks of Buying a Bank Auction Property

1: Due Diligence

One of the most common risks one faces when the bank-auction property is Due diligence. The buyers need to title check, and after that, they should also inspect the property's ownership status.

Another risk that potential buyers might face is the extra money they have to spend on repairing the property, which will be apart from the money they spent on buying that property. Whenever there is any bank auction where they are auctioning the properties, there is no policy for flexibility regarding the property's location and the price buyers are ready to pay for that property.

And because of all these reasons, it is tough for buyers to know the exact condition in which the property is, and by chance, when someone buys any property that is to be repaired a lot, the cost will be from their own pockets.

2: Outstanding Dues

There are times when the previous owners of the property leave the property without paying all their bills ( electricity, water, internet, etc.), and the bills stay due that later come on the head of the new owner of that property. So, it's better to keep an account of all this to avoid this risk.

3: Pre Bidding Deposits

If someone is thinking of getting bank-auctioned property, they have to pay 10-15% of the total cost of the actual property. If, after the bidding procedures, they cannot spend the rest of the amount, they have to lose their respective deposits along with the property.

How Does Bank Auction Work?

This is a curious question that must be roaming in the heads of so many people who will consider purchasing some properties from a bank auction. Most of the properties the bank puts in the auction to sell are seized from the previous owners, who often fail to pay the loan they borrowed from the bank and put their house as an asset.

When the person who borrowed the loan cannot pay the amount they took, the person who gave them the loan auctions their property for the due interest amount and even the principal amount. And so, most buyers often need clarification that there are always legal issues stuck to those properties. The answer is no; no legal cases are attached to those bank-auctioned properties.

7 Steps to Follow Before Purchasing a Bank Auction Property to Gain Maximum Benefits

1: Explore Bank Auction Property

Before purchasing any bank auction property, one has to explore this, and since there is no organised data regarding this, it is one of the most troublesome steps to be taken by buyers. But, once it is done, the following steps become easy and convenient.

Buyers can look for some verified sites where they provide information regarding the properties to be auctioned by the banks. However, the data on these websites must be updated, which can happen most of the time. So, one can also look for other sources such as newspapers, notices from the banks posted in their offices, and many others.

While doing this research, the buyers should make important notes based on the property and then move their steps accordingly.

2: Check the Details of the Properties

After the first step, one should shortlist the properties and then select the properties of their choice. And then, they should go into the details of those properties and even look at the minute details as they may turn out to be troublesome after the final deal.

One should also research the market value of those properties and look at whether they will get the bank deal better or the market deal. Then, they should check the details of how they can participate in the bank auction to purchase the property of their choice.

While researching the property, one only gets to know details and access to the property papers of that specific property once and if the final deal is locked. Hiring a lawyer would be the best option for any buyer in all these cases.

3: Physical Inspection of the Property

Another crucial step while purchasing any property from a bank auction is to inspect the property and look at the details. And that does not mean to spy on the property anytime by hiding, and it means that the bank provides the date and some time schedules in which the buyer can personally go to the property and inspect that.

They also provide the officer's contact details looking into or assigned to that property, and buyers can contact them and then move further.

The thing to notice is that if the bank advises for the physical inspection of the property by buyers, then it means that the physical occupancy of that property is with the bank, making the property even safer to purchase. Otherwise, once the buyer buys the property whose physical occupancy is not with the bank, they face many legal issues.

It is always seen that once the deal is done, the bank never shows any concern with the buyer and their legal matters.

4: Submission of the Tender Form

After following all of the above steps, buyers have to take the tender form, and then they have to submit their earnest money deposit. The earnest money deposit can be submitted as a demand draft or a banker's cheque. Buyers must read the details carefully, fill out the tender form, and submit it before the closing date of submission.

Along with the tender form, one also has to submit the KYC details of their own. If the tender form and KYC details are appropriately submitted and complete, there is a high chance that the bank will reject the form and the application. And so this makes this step a lot more crucial.

5: Bidding is the Game

The last and one of the most crucial steps is the final bidding of the property, which will decide whether the property will come into the hands of buyers or not. Currently, there are so many ways through which buyers can bid for the property. The first way to bid is to fill out the bidding form and submit it to the bank.

Most of the time, some banks consider the tender form the bidding form and then work accordingly. And some of the times, there is a separate bidding form that the bank provides at the times when buyers get the tender form.

6: Date of the Auction

The bank provides a specific date for the auction on which buyers must go to the bank or maybe the auction venue supplied by the bank. And there, buyers know whether they won and got that specific property.

If the buyers have submitted the bidding form along with the tender form, then banks open all the forms in front of all the buyers, and the one who bids the highest is declared the winner of the auction.

7: The Certificate of the Sale

Once the winner of the auction is declared, the winner has to pay approximately 75% of the amount, and after that, they are provided with a certificate of sale by the bank. And the next goal of the buyer becomes the transfer of title, which can be done by visiting the registrar's office.

What to do When Buying a Bank Auction property?

One should do a few things while purchasing any bank auction property. First of all, they need to sift through the property. Most of the time, the property is not emptied by the past owners who purchased it before, so it should also be checked that the property is ready to be moved in on time.

Another crucial thing that one should look for is to check that there are no unpaid bills to be paid by the owners staying in that property. The bills can be for electricity, water, internet, etc. Before initiating any deal in that property, one should prepare their budget, and then they should go according to that.

Knowing and getting all the essential documents of the property is very important. After that, they should get those necessary documents checked and then move accordingly.

Conclusion

There are many ways to purchase the property of their choice, and one of them is through the bank auction. There are so many properties under the possession of banks and they do the auction to sell those properties. However, there are so many benefits and risks linked to this procedure, and one should go through all of them, and then they can bid!

FAQ's

Yes, anyone can purchase the bank auction property by following the guidelines.
No, the bank can never reclaim the property.
Yes, properties auctioned by the bank are safe to buy.
Risks like due diligence, outstanding dues, and pre-bidding deposits are a few risks in buying bank auction properties.