Power of House Talks by The Cerdafied Development Group

This story is taken from Sacbee / Business / Real Estate jwasserman@sacbee.com Published Wednesday, Jun. 23, 2010 First in a series examining how banks and buyers operate in a distressed real estate market. This is no work for the faint of heart. Inside the real estate business, investors talk of unwittingly buying uncleaned scenes of suicides, taking on unexpected and expensive tax liens, finding air conditioners missing, and paying occupants nearly $2,000 to leave. But oh, the upside to buying from banks that sell short on the courthouse steps. From December through the end of April, 23 real estate investors and limited liability companies collectively earned $1.4 million in the capital region for less than a month's work, according to data from Onboard Informatics, a home sales tracker. These investor groups bought severely discounted houses at auctions held by banks that had repossessed them from homeowners. Then, within days or weeks, but always in l