Karen Ballinger of Oklahoma hoped to help her dad find a mountain home in Colorado at Sunday’s foreclosure auction in Denver, but she walked away with a four-bedroom home in Wray for a sixth of its original value.
Ballinger said she isn’t sure what she’ll do with the property, for which she’ll end up paying just a few thousands dollars.
It might become a rental home or a bed and breakfast, Ballinger said.
The weak economy has emboldened many novice real estate investors like Ballinger and encouraged others to snap up retirement homes earlier than planned, said auction director Mark Buleziuk.
Buleziuk oversaw for the Real Estate Disposition Corp. the sales of most of the 38 foreclosed homes on the block at Sunday’s auction at the Embassy Suites in southeast Denver.
The crowd was small, around 70 people, but business is booming, Buleziuk said, as he sucked a lozenge after hours of fast talking.
Smaller auctions “attract people interested in specific homes and maybe not as many investors,” he said. “You’re seeing a lot of average, everyday people looking at this as an opportunity to invest.”
Many homes from Arboles to Greeley sold for around half of their previous value.
Mike Lopez, who dipped his toe into real estate investment about a year ago, picked up a Colorado Springs condo for $35,000. It’s his third auction property. His main criteria? Cheap.
“It was a very good deal,” Lopez said. “I can do a little work and resell it at a good value to someone else.”
Maureen and Bill Holdridge of Littleton fall into the group purchasing their retirement homes early. They’ll use the ranch-style home in Bailey for vacations until they retire in five years.
If they get the home, that is.
They won the bid at $70,000 but must wait two weeks to find out whether the bid price is high enough for the bank holding the property.
Sunday’s auction was their second. And they went with their eye on just one home, which upped the pressure, Maureen Holdridge said.
“It’s exciting. Last time we were outbid in no time,” she said. This time, by the time the bidding stopped, her hands were shaking.
“I had trouble signing the papers,” she said.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
