An auction is a great way to sell a home. It is fast, efficient and final. The results are normally known from the beginning to the end, within 30 days or so. The type of auction I am talking about is an absolute auction. In this type of auction, the final price offered is the price the seller gets. Normally, an auction sale closes within 30 days. It is a cash offer, "as-is" sale. Besides selling the home fast, the auction sale will reset the value of homes within the subdivision where the auction is conducted.

A common reason for sellers to take the auction route is to have their home sold no matter what, by providing maximum marketing exposure to their home within a given period of time. If the home is sold much below the market price in the subdivision, this will basically reset all home prices within a subdivision and surrounding area and beyond. Auctions in today's marketplace serve a great need to get homes sold.

In an August 28th, 2007 article in the Orlando Sentinel, a very serious subject is addressed - rising foreclosure rates hitting many states, including Florida.  Indeed, we are the epicenter of foreclosures to come and I agree a bailout is not the right approach. However our skyrocketing property taxes have to bear a huge burden on this problem. We have killed off most investor buyers who are buying homes to rent out and have done so by property tax increases. It is impossible to find a home to rent out unless you pay cash for the home. The property taxes are so high, investors will have a  serious cash flow and will take their money somewhere else.  Meanwhile, we are sitting here with bulging inventory of unsold homes and no buyers. Property tax relief is in place to try and reverse this foreclosure avalanche.

However, for people already in the terrible position of foreclosure, Gitta’s Real Estate Team with Keller Williams is offering a viable solution to foreclosure by negotiating a short sale with the lender. More information can be found at http://www.florida-foreclosuresolutions.com . Sellers should be very careful in paying advance fees to someone to handle the short sale of the property or deeding over a property to an investor. Before anything, call Gitta Urbainczyk P.A. at 407-33—2181 or speak to your attorney. Help may be just around the corner.

For the full Orlando Sentinel article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/orl-miket2807aug28,0,7252814.column