Week-long foreclosure auction of Georgia homes

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Week-long foreclosure auction of Georgia homes

Photos: Foreclosed houses in Georgia are being auctioned off by the Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC).

Clark Simon, 31, and Lagi Faamolemole, 21, came to the Real Estate Disposition Corporation auction at the Cobb Galleria on Sunday hoping to buy a foreclosed house in Powder Springs. The auction continues through the week -- on Monday at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta.

The auction began Saturday with more than 1,500 dwellings up for sale. The crowd of bidders was a mix of real estate investors, first-time home buyers and people looking for their second, third or fourth home. Bidding assistant Marty Murphy talks to a potential buyer.

Successful bidder Nicole Brown, of Dallas, leaves the auction after buying a foreclosed house in Dallas for a little over $73,000. The house was valued at $129,000. Brown said this is her seventh home purchase, but her first auction.

High bidders on foreclosed properties sit down behind a roped-off area to begin the process of actually purchasing their new home. REDC goes to Macon on Tuesday and will back in Atlanta next weekend -- at the Georgia World Congress Center on Saturday and the International Convention Center on Sunday.

Bidders hold booklets containing bidding information and pictures of the houses. At least 37,273 foreclosure sales occurred in Georgia in 2007 and the first half of this year; during that period, more than 350,000 Georgia homeowners fell at least 60 days behind on their mortgage payments, according to HOPE NOW, an alliance of lenders and consumer groups.

Darrin Housepian and Dave Lee prepare for the Real Estate Disposition Corporation auction to begin.

To bid in the auction, prospective bidders must provide a $2,500 cashier's check or cash, a personal checkbook and photo ID. Veronica Tutt (center) helps a potential buyer register to bid in the Real Estate Disposition Corporation auction.

Hundreds of bidders gathered on Sunday. On Saturday, about 2,500 people were present. REDC officials said they have sold more than $2.3 billion in real estate assets around the country so far this year. That⿿s more than double their $920 million sales volume for all of 2007.

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Clark Simon, 31, and Lagi Faamolemole, 21, came to the Real Estate Disposition Corporation auction at the Cobb Galleria on Sunday hoping to buy a foreclosed house in Powder Springs. The auction continues through the week -- on Monday at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta.

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