The Snowbird Diaries Foreclosurehunting in Arizona Part VI

The Snowbird Diaries: Foreclosure-hunting in Arizona Part VI. Back to video

Roberta Avery

After a long period of frustration for my husband John and me in our search for a bargain foreclosure in Arizona We finally find an opportunity that we love, and isn't under contract.

Content of the article We believe that the 1,800-square-foot house we discovered in Sedona's Village of Oak Creek will make a great home in the sun.

It comes with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, stunning red rock views, as well as all the bells and whistles like granite counter-tops and ceramic tile floors. It was purchased for US$519,000 in 2006. It's currently listed for sale at US$325,000.

There's a problem. HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) owns the house after the Citimortgage division's $415,000 mortgage fell into default.

HUD will accept bids for the house but at first the bidding is restricted to U.S citizens who are looking for a permanent home. Bids from "community heroes" like firefighters or teachers, as well as police officers, are the most sought-after.

The initial bidding period is open for another two days. If it doesn’t sell the bidding will remain open to all potential buyers even Canadians.

Our real estate agent, Sylvia Ray, who is a specialist in foreclosures, doesn't hold out any hope that the property will be sold at the initial offering, as she believes it's reasonably priced, but advises that if we want to buy, we must be ready with a bid as soon as it is open to all bidders.

We're planning to cash out our savings and RSPs and create a credit line on our home in Meaford, Ont., to pay for the purchase, but HUD will only accept bids if we can provide proof of funds. Our bank manager in Meaford helps us by promptly sending an email to inform us that we have enough assets that can be liquidated in order to fund the purchase.

The phone call from Sylvia arrives at the dawn of two days later.

There haven't been any bids.

She asks, "Do you want a bid?"

The answer is "Yes!"

"I'll need your IRS [U.S. Inland Revenue Service] number to make your bid," she tells us.

And a non-refundable US$1,000 deposit, should we change our minds if our bid is accepted.

We have US$1,000, however we don't have an IRS number.

Contacts to the IRS will only be answered by an automated answering service and we embark on a 300-km round trip in search of an open IRS office. We eventually arrive at the tiny IRS satellite office in Prescott, where we are met by an armed guard (apparently an occurrence in all IRS offices since February, when the man flew an aircraft into the IRS building in Austin, Texas) and an official who gives us a form and asks us to mail it, to Austin.

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Sylvia is informed that we are not able to get an IRS number to bid. We call Sylvia. Sylvia is finally informed by HUD's head office that Canadians are able to bid with a Canadian social insurance number.

We offer our services to Sylvia at Sylvia's workplace.

According to our research, foreclosures sell for around 90% of the asking prices. We would be willing to sell for US$295,000 however Sylvia surprises and suggests a bid of US$275,000.

We settle on US$276,000 and Sylvia submits our email offering.

It's already at 4:30 p.m. Sure But Sylvia says the response to our request will be posted on the HUD website at 1 p.m. the next day - so keep an eye on the site. .

(Photo:

The Averys offer a bid of US$276,000 on this house in Sedona's Village of Oak Creek. It was purchased for $519,000 in 2006. Credit: John Avery