Yes, you need to register and verify your credentials to make an offer on a property.

No, there are no fees or deposits required to submit bids or offers.

Redemption is a former owner’s legal right to reclaim their property via payment – typically it’s the entire loan amount plus fees – within a specified amount of time after foreclosure. Each state’s and county’s redemption laws and timelines may vary, so be sure to consult a real estate attorney for more information. Buyers should be aware that even after a closing is conducted for the sale of a property that is subject to redemption rights, title will generally not transfer free and clear until the redemption period for the property expires. The buyer will likely not be entitled to take possession of the property until the redemption period expires or terminates under the applicable state and local laws, rules and regulations. Finally, it is possible that the former owner of the property will choose to exercise their redemption rights and attempt to repurchase the property from the subsequent buyer. Bidders are advised to consult a real estate attorney to understand the risks before placing a bid.

If a home is subject to a redemption period it will be listed in the Special Servicing Conditions (Special Terms) section.

The property details page will indicate whether the property is available for showings. Note: Certain bank-owned and foreclosure properties are occupied. Attempting to inspect or visit these properties may be considered trespassing. Please refer to the property details page to determine if you can visit. If you’re already working with an agent, ask them for a showing. They can obtain the property access.

Yes, it’s always a good idea to visit the property before you bid or make an offer. Auctions usually have no inspection contingency period, so buyers should inspect all auction properties prior to bidding. While traditional sales usually have a seven-day inspection contingency period, inspecting the property upfront will help you make an informed offer.

Since each home may be different, please review the inspection terms listed in the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) and, if applicable, the PSA Addendum for specifics on how to schedule an inspection.

For the safety and security of prospective buyers and the seller and their property, a licensed real estate agent is needed to accompany a prospective bidder who wishes to visit a property marketed on Hubzu. If you wish to arrange a visit, please click on the ‘Schedule a Visit’ icon on the property details page. Through this window, you may request an in-person showing with a licensed real estate agent. You may also contact the listing agent directly. The listing agent’s contact information is also shown on the property details page in the frame entitled ‘Listed by’.

No, water activation is not allowed during the inspection. However, by having a licensed plumber conduct a pressurized air test on the plumbing system, you can determine whether the system is intact without compromising winterizations.

An occupied property is a property that the seller believes contains one or more individuals who are living in the property.

No, visiting a bank owned occupied property is not permitted. Attempting to inspect or visit an occupied property may be considered trespassing.

If you’re financing your purchase, get pre-approved (not just pre-qualified) for a loan. Pre-approval will help you know how much you can afford and possibly speed up offer acceptance in a booming market. Also, have money set aside in advance for the earnest money deposit. And don’t forget to factor possible home repairs into your budget. Set a budget for how much you’re willing to spend on home repairs so you’ll know what’s feasible when looking at homes.

In most cases, yes; however, the seller chooses whether or not to accept financing. If financing is not accepted, the buyer must pay cash for the property. Look for Financing Considered or Cash Only under the Place Bid or Make Offer button on each property details page. Place your cursor on Financing Considered to see which types of financing the seller will consider. Note: Not all properties will qualify for loans; check with your lender to be sure.

When you bid on a property, you’re participating in an auction. Auctions have set time limits. When you make an offer on a property, you’re participating in a traditional sale. Traditional sales have no set time limit.

When you purchase a property, a fee called the transfer tax is charged to the Buyer for transferring the title of the property to the buyer from the seller. Depending on where the property is purchased different taxes can be part of the transfer tax such as documentary stamp taxes, excise taxes, other documentary transfer taxes or deed taxes. If there is a transfer tax associated with the purchase of a property, the details will be included in the purchase and sale agreement you will receive prior to closing.

A reserve price is the minimum price the seller is willing to accept for the property in an auction. The reserve price is set by the sellers and is not shown to buyers; however, the property details page shows if the reserve price has been met.

If an auction ends without the reserve price being met, no selected bidder is declared. However, the seller reserves the right to accept a lower bid, negotiate with a bidder, propose new terms to the bidders or relist the property.

Sellers can accept or reject any bid and have the legal right to approve or reject bids, including the highest bid based on all components such as financing type and requested closing date. In short sale transactions, both the seller and the seller’s lender must approve the highest bid.

Since our system tracks activity by the second, two bids are never received at the exact same time. However, when a user sets an auto bid to the same amount as a manual bidder, the auto bid will appear first with a time stamp of when the auto bid was initially set.
For example, the current highest bid is $95,000. If a manual bidder submitted a $100,000 bid at 11:30 a.m. but an auto bid had been set at 11:15 a.m. for the same amount, the auto bid would appear first. An auto bid placed before a flat bid or another auto bid of the same amount will be recognized as the current highest bid. Ultimately, the seller retains the right to choose which bid the seller wants to accept.

The act of placing a bid at the last moment in the hope of being the selected bidder is called auction sniping and is intended to deny other bidders time to place a higher bid. To prevent this practice, we extend the auction by 15 minutes if a last-minute bid is received. If this occurs and you have been an active bidder on the property, we will notify you via email that the auction has been extended by 15 minutes. The auction will be extended by 15-minute increments until 15 minutes have passed without bidding activity. Note: While we provide email notifications on auction status, we strongly recommend you keep track of auction activity for listings that are nearing their time limits through your My Hubzu dashboard.

A selected bid could be: The highest bid at the end of the bidding period that meets or exceeds the reserve price, A bid made for the End the Auction Now price or Any bid selected by the seller, which is sometimes not the highest bid but may feature financing or cash that the seller finds more attractive than the highest bid. Note: Sellers approve or reject bids based on all of the components of the bid. The seller may select the highest bid or a lower bid price with better terms. Short sales: The bid must be approved by both the seller and the seller’s lender.

Fallout happens when a buyer’s bid is selected in an auction but doesn’t complete the closing process. Because the buyer doesn’t purchase the property, the sale falls out.

Before you bid or offer, be sure you’re prepared to proceed with the purchase. Once placed, the highest bid can only be withdrawn by a member of Customer Care while the auction is still in process, and offers may only be withdrawn before the seller approves them. You must be financially ready to close on the property. This includes having cash funds available or your financing secured. Watch for notifications and email alerts relating to your bid or offer. Check your email regularly during the bid and closing process, including your spam or junk folder. You are responsible for responding timely and taking next steps in the transaction if you become the selected bidder. We strongly recommend viewing your My Hubzu dashboard when an auction you are participating in is nearing its time limit. Please note: If you fall out repeatedly as a buyer, your Hubzu privileges may be suspended indefinitely or your membership terminated with refusal to provide services.

If the auction has ended and the property goes under contract, buyers can place a backup bid. Backup bids may be considered if the property falls out of contract and becomes available again. There are two ways in which a backup bid can be placed. It can be placed during the normal auction cycle at time the bid is placed. A back up bid can also be placed after the auction has ended and a property has gone under contract. Backup bids may be considered if the property falls out of contract and becomes available again. If you’re interested in placing a backup bid, select the Place Backup Bid button and follow the prompts.

If the contract with a different bidder falls through, the seller may review all backup bids and choose one to proceed to contract or reject all such bids. The seller has complete discretion in deciding how to proceed. The seller is not required to review or select any of the backup bids.

No. The Buyer’s Premium is still calculated off of the buyer’s original selected bid which was set forth in the original purchase and sale agreement signed by the buyer and the seller.

The reserve price is the price set by the seller indicating the lowest price the seller might accept for a property. The seller is not obligated to accept bids that meet the reserve price, however. Ultimately, the seller reserves the right to accept a bid lower than the reserve price, higher than the reserve price, negotiate with any bidder regarding the terms of the sale or relist the property. Although sellers have complete discretion regarding bids, bidders will have the best chance of becoming the selected bidder if the bid meets the reserve price.

The list price is the price the seller believes the house is worth and is likely to accept for the property. You can offer less than the list price, but the seller may not accept your offer terms.

No, sellers can accept or reject any offer. They have the right to approve or reject offers based on all of the components of the offers, including financing type and requested closing date. Short sales: Both the seller and the seller’s lender must approve the offer.

Yes, toward the end of the offer process, check the box next to “If the seller accepts another offer for this property, please hold my offer terms as a backup for __ days.” and insert the number of days you want your backup bid to remain open for the seller to consider. Note that the number of days is counted from the time the seller accepts an offer from a different prospective buyer. As with any backup bid or offer, the seller has the right to reject all backup offers and relist the property.

If the contract with a different bidder falls through, the seller may review all backup bids and choose one to proceed to contract or reject all such bids. The seller has complete discretion in deciding how to proceed. The seller is not required to review or select any of the backup bids.

If there are two or more similar offers on a property, the seller may initiate Highest and Best, which is a request for all interested buyers to submit their absolute best offer by a given deadline. If you made an offer on the property, you’ll receive an email asking you to submit your Highest and Best offer. After the deadline, the seller will review all offers received and decide how to proceed. Note: If you don’t submit a Highest and Best offer, the seller considers your most recent offer as your final offer. All offers must be submitted within the timeframe established by the seller. You can only submit one offer, and all buyers have the opportunity to submit one. Even though Highest and Best is requested, the seller is not obligated to accept any offer.

Highest and Best offers are not displayed on our site until the seller approves one of the offers. At that time, the approved offer will appear as the Current Highest Offer on the property details page.

Yes, active and backup offers may be retracted. To withdraw your offer, sign in to your My Hubzu account. On your My Hubzu page, select Manage next to Active Offers, then click Withdraw in the actions column next to the offer.
Note: Once the seller has approved your offer, you have agreed to purchase the property and can no longer retract your offer.

Offers are typically rejected for two reasons: 1. Another buyer submitted an offer with a higher price or more attractive terms, such as fewer concessions or a shorter closing timeframe. 2. The offer did not meet the seller’s approved terms. Short sales: The seller’s lender may decline the offer but will only disclose to the seller or seller’s agent the reason for declining a short sale offer.

Typical response time is within a few days. However, short sale offer/bid acceptance often takes significantly longer due to the review conducted by the seller’s lender. Note: Average time to accept a bid or offer on homes with Special Conditions or short sales is longer than auctions or traditional sales.

Most bank owned homes: You’ll receive an email within 48 hours with the name of your Document Processor – your guide from this point on through the closing process – and details on next steps. You can also view this email from your My Hubzu account.
Note: An email does not constitute final acceptance of your bid or offer. The documentation process, including all signatures on the Purchase and Sale Agreement, must be completed before acceptance is considered final. Short sales/properties with Special Terms, including some bank owned homes: You’ll receive an email notification of the next steps in the contract process.

Most bank-owned homes: The email you receive after you are the selected bidder in an auction or your offer is approved will contain a link that will allow you to digitally sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA). You must review, sign and confirm this digital version within 48 hours of receiving the link. For more information, see our FAQ section on eSignatures below. Note: For certain bank-owned properties, you may receive an email with the PSA as an attachment instead of an eSignature link. In this case, you must review, sign and send back the PSA via Hubzu within 48 hours of receiving the email. A link to the upload page is included in the email. Short sales/properties with Special Conditions Apply (Special Terms), including some bank-owned homes: You’ll receive notification of the next steps in the contract process.

Most bank owned homes: After you receive notification that your bid was the selected bid, we will email you with instructions on how to complete and submit the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA). You must sign the PSA within 48 hours of receiving these instructions. Note: An email does not constitute final acceptance of your bid or offer. The documentation process, including all signatures on the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA), must be completed before the prospective buyer’s bid is considered accepted by the seller. The seller reserves the right to receive and document backup bids/offers at any time. Short sales/properties with Special Conditions Apply (Special Terms), including some bank-owned homes: The buyer and their agent will work with the listing agent directly to sign the PSA. For short sale properties, the buyer and seller will also be required to sign a PSA Addendum.

Most bank owned homes: If you fail to sign and return the Purchase and Sale Agreement within 48 hours, the seller has the option to unilaterally cancel your offer or bid. Short sales/properties with Special Servicing Conditions (Special Terms): The listing agent holds the responsibility for informing the buyers about the signing requirements. Note: Failing to return the PSA agreement in the time required may lead to indefinite suspension of your account.

Most bank owned homes: The minimum required earnest money deposit is based on a pre-determined percentage of your selected bid/offer amount. The required deposit ranges from 1% to 7% but is never less than $1,000 or more than $15,000 and will be applied to the purchase price at closing. To view the earnest money deposit percentage for a specific property, visit the property’s details page. Note: If you are unable to comply with the terms and conditions of the executed Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA), your earnest money deposit may not be refunded. Properties with Special Servicing Conditions Apply (Special Terms): The minimum required earnest money deposit is calculated by the seller and is outside the control or discretion of Hubzu. This minimum amount will be specified in the PSA and may be held in a licensed real estate agent’s escrow account or with an escrow company or closing agent.

The Closing Agent (Closing Attorney, Title Company or Escrow Office) named in the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) must receive the earnest money deposit within 48 hours of your receipt of the fully executed PSA. Please refer to the PSA for more information. Properties with Special Terms: The PSA designates where the buyer should send the earnest money deposit.

eSignature refers to the specific technology that allows a party to digitally sign your name and initial contracts and paperwork online in an environment that has been secured by the technology provider. Hubzu is using eSignature paperless functionality via DocuSign for many of our documents in certain transactions from Listing Agreements signed by agents to the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) signed during closing transactions. By using DocuSign, the need to print, hand-sign and mail or fax paperwork is eliminated. Availability of eSignature technology varies by state.

DocuSign is a leading provider of web-based electronic signature technology that facilitates exchanges of contracts, tax documents and legal materials. DocuSign eliminates the need for the mailing of paper contracts by keeping track of document versions.

Once you receive the link to your DocuSign documents, you have 48 hours to sign and confirm them.

We strongly encourage you to complete your transaction digitally using DocuSign instead of faxing any documents, but there is a Send by Fax option available. If you choose the Send by Fax option while accessing your Purchase and Sale agreement via DocuSign, DocuSign will provide instructions and a fax cover sheet to use for the PSA and any other documents you need to attach. You must use the U.S. fax number provided on the cover sheet in order to successfully complete your contract signature process. Please do not use an alternate fax number even if you have seen it in a Hubzu communication.

No, repairs cannot be made until you own the house.

Yes, however, the seller may offer an incentive if you use a seller-chosen Title Company, Closing Attorney, Escrow Agent or Closing Agent. For cash purchases, certain sellers may reserve the right to designate who will handle title/closing. Please refer to the Purchase and Sale Agreement for details.

The seller makes every attempt to provide the property with marketable title. Any specific questions related to title defects would need to be reviewed on a case by case basis as per the transaction’s purchase and sale agreement.

Title searches have two primary goals. The first is to verify that the seller has the right to transfer ownership. The second is to identify any claims, arrears, assessments or other restrictions that might affect property ownership or otherwise complicate the sales process. Title searches include steps like examining public records available through municipal and county offices such as the local registrar of deeds and county clerk’s office. Note: The title process can take longer on bank-owned homes and short sales, so buyers of these types of properties should allocate ample time for title search and issue resolution.

Unless specifically stated in the documents section of the property details page, liens are usually not discovered until the title search process occurs.

The parties’responsibility is set for in the Purchase and Sale Agreement which describes the closing costs the seller will pay and the closing costs the buyer will pay.

When you’ll close depends on the type of sale (auction or traditional), financing terms and what you and the seller agree to as the target closing date.

You should refer to the terms in the PSA regarding the treatment of your earnest money deposit if you fail to perform your obligations under the PSA. Generally, your earnest money deposit will be subject to forfeiture if you fail to close unless the failure to close is due to some legally substantiated fault of the seller.

Foreclosure auctions are live, in-person auctions to purchase properties when an owner has defaulted on a mortgage loan or is severely delinquent on property tax payments. Foreclosure auctions typically occur at the courthouse in the county where the property is located.

Foreclosure auctions typically occur at the county courthouse at a specified date and time. The auction schedules are often set based on applicable state or local laws.

All properties offered at a foreclosure auction sell. The bank or creditor will submit a bid at the foreclosure that is equal to the amount that they are owed or may bid a percentage of the current value. If a potential third party buyer does not bid higher than the bank, then the property is sold to the bank and it becomes a Real Estate Owned (REO) property. If a third party buyer outbids the bank at the foreclosure sale, then that buyer is awarded title to the property. If the bank or creditor is awarded the property, it may be remarketed on Hubzu®, an online marketing platform, after the foreclosure sale.

Bidders should go to the auction prepared with cash or a cashier’s check in case their bid is accepted. The county may require any bidder to verify their identity and provide proof of funds before the auction begins. Personal check, credit cards, money orders and letters of credit are typically not acceptable forms of payment. Please refer to the terms and conditions document which you can download from the property details page.

The Estimated Opening Bid is the projected opening bid amount at the foreclosure auction. The estimate is subject to change when the auction starts. The bid amount is typically determined by the balance of the outstanding loan, past-due property taxes, and other factors. The Estimated Opening Bid is usually not based on the market value of the property, but rather the amount of debt accrued on the property.

No. Foreclosure properties may be occupied. Prospective bidders cannot trespass on the property, disturb the occupants or contact the borrower to obtain information about the property. Available details on the property will be listed on the property details page and may possibly be obtained from public records.

Some liens that exist prior to the foreclosure may remain in place after the foreclosure. Properties are sold “as is” or “where is” with faults and limitations. Prospective bidders are encouraged to conduct independent due diligence such as performing a title search or seeking outside legal advice prior to the sale.

Redemption laws vary by state or locality. Please contact a real estate attorney for specific details regarding possible redemption periods in the state or county of purchase.

The sale may be cancelled or postponed for a variety of reasons before the start of bidding. There is no guarantee that the sale will occur. Visit the property details page for the most up-to-date information on the auction. If a property sale is cancelled, it is possible it could be added to another auction at a later time.

A Bid Cancellation Fee is a hold placed on your credit card when your bid is selected for a property on Hubzu. This is used to verify that you are a serious bidder with intent to purchase the property.

The amount of the hold placed on your credit card is $1000.

No, a separate Bid Cancellation Fee is required for each property. The amount is not transferable from property to property.

We’re taking this extra step to help uphold the integrity of our auctions. We want to make sure the bidding pool is comprised of serious bidders.

The Bid Cancellation Fee is actually a credit card hold that will be released once we receive confirmation that your earnest money deposit has been paid in the required time period. If you fail to deliver your earnest money deposit, your credit card will be charged $1000.

You will need to complete the Bid Cancellation Fee transaction within 24 hours after we send the confirmation email that you have the selected bid in the auction.

The seller can choose another bid or relist the property.

If you are not the selected bidder, no hold will be placed on your credit card. If you are the selected bidder, the credit card hold will remain in effect until we receive confirmation that your earnest money deposit has been paid. If you fail to deliver your earnest money deposit, your credit card will be charged $1000.

The Proof of Funds process requires prospective buyers to provide evidence that they possess the funds required to complete the purchase transaction. It provides a seller with evidence of a prospective buyer’s ability to consummate the transaction.

Each seller’s criteria is different but generally, in cash transactions, proof of funds is demonstrated by providing a letter from a financial institution controlled by the prospective buyer that the relevant account has sufficient funds to complete the transaction. In transactions involving financing, proof of funds is demonstrated by providing a pre-approval letter from the buyer’Es mortgage company or bank that is providing the financing.

Prospective buyers are required to provide evidence of proof of funds. Buyers can submit their proof of funds by either 1.) uploading the relevant documents through the Contact Information Form or 2.) uploading the documents directly on the bid confirmation screen.