The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 9 No. 37 - June 3, 2009

REAL ESTATE

County clerk offers on-line auction option

The great American humorist Art Buchwald once said, "Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we have," which is a a good reason to stop lamenting about the real estate market and do something about it. If you’ve got a couple of extra bucks and want to start doing something with the only times we have available to us, check out the on-line auction option affiliated with the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court Office.

To locate scheduled on-line foreclosure auctions as well as other foreclosure information, log on to the county clerk’s new Web site, www.clerkofcircuitcourt.com. The site gives you the ability to bring up a foreclosure calendar for the current month and one or two more months in advance. The calendar is organized by the case number of the foreclosure action with the on-line sales conveniently highlighted in green.

If you hover over the number it will give you a brief synopsis of the property in question, or you can click on the number which opens up more details on the property including foreclosure filing history, dollar amount, the bank or lending institution bringing the action as well as judges and attorneys involved. It does not, however, give you the actual property address but it does provide the case number and a link to the on-line auction site.

The on-line auction site will provide the auctions available on specific days, as well as information about procedures for bidding on a property. Individuals who may be interested in bidding need to register on the site prior to bidding and provide the appropriate deposit. This site does provide the address of the property the judgment amount, assessed value, date and time when the auction will begin and the parcel ID number which hyper-links to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s office Web site. On the property appraiser’s Web site, you can research the entire history of the property including prior sales, taxes, age, size, and of course, previous owners’ names.

Now before you get too excited about your new venture, remember that most of the properties up for auction are ultimately bought back by the bank or lending institution holding the liens on the property. This is because the outstanding debt plus fees, taxes and any other liens on the property are usually more than the current market value.

If you spot a property you’re interested in which is taken back by the bank at auction, you can attempt to contact the bank for purchase information. This is easier said than done since banks have a complicated bureaucracy made even more complicated by the increased numbers of foreclosures they’re experiencing. If you are tenacious, you’ll eventually get to the right person or department or to a real estate broker who is handling the transaction for the bank, but this may take a monumental degree of patience.

I found an interesting statistical recap while I was on the county’s Web site, which will help you get perspective on the foreclosure market we’re in. The Twelfth Judicial Circuit, which includes Manatee, Sarasota and Desoto counties has experienced a 628 percent increase in mortgage foreclosures during the last three calendar years: 2006, 2007 and 2008. It goes on to say that the Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice areas were 11th in foreclosure filings among the nation’s top 100 metropolitan areas in 2008 and that economists project the upward trend in foreclosures to continue throughout 2009.

If the above numbers don’t get your attention, I don’t know what will. These are, after all, the only times we have and there are opportunities galore with plenty of people still making money. Maybe you can be one of them.

Real Estate Transactions
Closed sales between March 2 and April 18, 2009

Anna Maria

523 Villa Rosa Way Single family $850,000
114 Tern Drive Single Family 750,000
160 Crescent Drive Single family 600,000
115 Maple Ave. Single family 550,000
111 Gull Drive Single family 525,000
304 Hardin Ave. Single family 515,000
801 Fern St. Duplex 326,000
9907 Gulf Drive Lot 315,000

Bradenton Beach

506 Bay Drive S. Condo $650,00
2418 Ave. C #500 Condo 375,000
2414 Ave. C Duplex 336,700
1801 Gulf Drive #207 Condo 225,000

Cortez

12618 Safe Harbor Dr. Lot $475,000
4011 Osprey Harbor Lp. Townhouse 257,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #37 RV Resort 190,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #21 RV Resort 130,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #50 RV Resort 124,000
Address Type Price
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #8 RV Resort 121,500
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #68 RV Resort 110,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #77 RV Resort 86,000

Holmes Beach

520 58th St. 2 or more $1,775,000
105 49th St. Single family 750,000
6006 Gulf Drive #210 Condo 690,000
209 65th St. Single family 600,000
103 81st St. Single family 565,000
621 Emerald Lane Single family 550,000
519 75th St. Single family 416,000
104 55th St. Condo 400,000
203 70th St. Half Duplex 335,000
5200 Gulf Drive #108 Condo 315,000
313 62nd St. Duplex 300,000
2701 Ave. C Single family 225,000
3801 Fourth Ave. #3 Condo 220,000
6500 Flotilla Drive #214Condo 215,000
6804 Marina Drive Condo 215,000
6300 Flotilla Drive #99 Condo 180,000

Source: Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office


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