Foreclosures are where a lot of Dayton-area portfolios got built, and where a lot of money got lost by people who treated a sheriff’s sale like a bargain bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The difference between those outcomes is almost entirely what you established before you bid. Ryan has 31 videos on this and has bought plenty of them. Here is the short version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The owner is behind but the property has not been sold yet. You are negotiating directly with someone in a difficult situation, which means diligence is normal — you can inspect, you can get title work, you can walk away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is where the best deals are, and it is the slowest and most emotionally taxing route. Most of what Ryan covers on direct outreach and door-knocking applies here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The county auction. In Ohio these run through the county sheriff, increasingly online, and the terms are unforgiving: you generally cannot inspect the interior, you buy subject to whatever the title actually says, and deposits are due immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The classic expensive mistake is bidding on a junior lien and discovering a senior mortgage survives the sale. The second is buying a property with people still living in it and discovering that removing them is now your problem, on your timeline, through the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a failed auction the lender takes the property back and lists it. You can inspect, you get clear title, and you pay for that certainty. Slower and pricier than the auction, dramatically less risky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Auctions are designed to make you bid one more time. The only defence is a maximum written down in advance and a willingness to sit on your hands. Run the deal first — the Proper Deal Calculator below uses the same formulas as our app, so you can underwrite it on your phone in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the 31-video foreclosures and recession-proofing series<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n