Every Friday morning at 10:00 AM, Trustee Sales are held in various locations throughout the county.  Phil Leng, one of my students, invited me to attend the foreclosure auction with him this Friday at 3535 Factoria Blvd SE, Bellevue outside of the south entrance to the Northwest Trustee Services building.  I’ve been hearing rumors that banks are discounting their own opening bids right at auction and I want to check this out.

If you’ve been following along with Craig Blackmon’s foreclosure series, this means the amount of money owed to the bank, plus expenses, is the opening bid.  Bidders show up with cashier checks, receive a bid number, and typically bid UP from the bank’s opening bid.  During the height of the bubble run up, there were multiple bidders bidding the final price way up.  The rumor is that some banks or lenders may now be opening the auction at a bid price lower than their cost. I have heard of this happening in other states such as California, but not in Washington state. 

I’ll be there tomorrow. If you want to come and join me, I’ll be the one with a video camera recording as much as I can for a new class I’m writing.