Miami-Dade Courthouse Foreclosure Sales Readying To Go Online

In Miami, Florida, The New York Times reports:

• Buying into Miami’s foreclosure glut will soon be a whole lot easier. Seeking ultimately to eliminate a record backlog and a system that favors insiders, Miami-Dade County announced plans [...] to use online auctions for the thousands of delinquent properties that have made South Florida a center of the recession.

• MiamiDade.realforeclose.com, the Web site, will become fully operational on Dec. 7, making Miami-Dade the largest of 12 Florida counties in the process of replacing courthouse auctions with online sales. “The goal is to make it more convenient for people to bid and to research properties,” said Harvey Ruvin, the clerk of courts. “It kind of levels the playing field.” The online system would end, or at least make digital, what many officials describe as a process steeped in speculation, trickery and, occasionally, physical conflict.

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• In Miami and elsewhere in Florida, scuffles have broken out as one investor tried to block another, or tried to sell a property at a higher price than he paid minutes earlier. Mr. Ruvin said that he installed cameras and a full-time police officer a few years ago to keep things under control. He said he looked forward to making the system computer-based, so bidders would make offers from home. “My approach is to serve more and more people online instead of in line,” he said.(1)

For more, see Miami-Dade Hopes Online Auctions Will Help Reduce Backlog of Foreclosures.

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In a related story from Central Florida, see The Tampa Tribune: Pasco County moves foreclosure auctions to the Web:

• Pasco County is moving its foreclosure auctions from the courthouse to the Internet. The county will hold its first Web site auction on Monday and phase out on-site sales by Dec. 15. The new online auction site, www.Pasco.realforeclose.com, will save money on auction costs and broaden the pool of potential buyers, the county said.

(1) Stories of novice, wanna-be real estate investors getting burned because they don't know what they're doing should begin to increase as these online auctions become more prevalent throughout the country. For examples of people screwing themselves at real estate auctions due to their own lack of knowledge and experience, see:

• Forclosure Auction Bargain Turns Into Nightmare,
• Novice Bidders In Online Condo-Lien Foreclosure Sales Left Holding The Bag As They Unwittingly Buy Units Subject To Unpaid, Big-Balance 1st Mortgages.