FAQ

Yes. In order to gain access to many of the features on this site, including making an offer or bidding on a property, users must first complete the registration form and agree to all Terms and Conditions. We recommend that you register at least 48 hours to the close of bidding before placing an offer or a bid in the event that there are any issues with the registration. Your username and password are confidential and shall not be shared with or transferred to other parties.

Typically, the site offers single family, 1-4 unit multi-family and condominium/town home units for sale. In many cases, the properties were acquired by the seller through a foreclosure or other settlement with the debtor.

The primary difference between buying a property the "conventional way" versus through online bidding is that when you buy through an online bidding process you need to do all of your homework up front before submitting the bid. This includes obtaining financing to buy the property, if required, inspecting the property, reviewing title, etc. Also, as the terms of sale are the same for all bidders, there is a level playing field for all bidders.

Speed, price and selection. When you buy a property through the online bidding process, you eliminate all the back and forth of offers and counteroffers common to a traditional real estate purchase. And if you use the "Buy Now" feature you also can be sure that you will not be outbid on your purchase!

Yes. Buyers may register their broker with GoHoming (or Affiliates) when submitting an offer. In order to qualify, the broker must be licensed in the applicable state. Qualified brokers are paid commission on the winning bid or offer amount. Be prepared to enter the broker's information, including but not limited to his or her license number, when submitting your bid or offer.

In many cases, these properties are owned by a lender that acquired the property through foreclosure or other means. In other cases, these properties are owned by individuals or companies looking to sell their real estate.

While each seller has the right to determine what sale price to accept, most sellers conduct one of four types of sales:

Traditional Sale. A Buyer extends an offer to purchase the property. The Seller may then accept that offer or make a counter offer. This counter offer may be accepted by the potential buyer, rejected by the buyer, or the buyer may make counter offer. Once both parties agree to a price, the closing process begins.

Absolute Bidding.  In this type of bidding, the seller agrees to sell the property to the highest bidder regardless of the price.

Reserve Price Bidding. In this case, the seller sets a minimum price or "reserve" at which price they would agree to sell the property. Traditionally, once the reserve price is met, the bidding continues through the end of the bidding period. The seller has the option of disclosing or not disclosing the reserve price. If the reserve price is disclosed, you cannot submit an offer below the reserve price. Regardless of whether the reserve price is disclosed, the reserve price is typically a discount to the estimated property value.

Buy Now Bidding. This type of sale is conducted in the same fashion as typical reserve price bidding except that the reserve price is always disclosed and once a bidder meets the reserve price, he or she is declared the winning bidder and the property is no longer available for others to bid on it.

A winning bid is the bid that is the highest bid at the end of the bidding period that meets or exceeds the Reserve Price, the bid that meets the Buy Now price or, with Absolute Bidding, the highest bid by the end of the bidding period assuming that the bidder meets the closing requirements.

Not necessarily. Most online bidding sellers set a Reserve Price as a mechanism for recovering a percentage of the property's current market value. The Reserve Price strategy will vary from one seller to the next. In addition, there are some properties that are listed to sell "absolute". These properties will be sold to the highest bidder, regardless of price.

Yes, depending on listing type. The bid/ offer deposit will be applied to the Earnest Money/Deposit.

For Online Bidding:In the event that you are a winning bidder for an online bidding sale, you will automatically be charged a Winning Bid Deposit of 1% of the winning bid capped at $5,000 upon billing period conclusion.

For Traditional Listing:In the event that you have submitted a successful offer for a traditional listing, you will automatically be charged a Winning Offer Deposit (defined at offer submission) upon offer acceptance by the Seller.

Payment type and information will be requested at the time you register as a buyer on GoHoming or one of its Affiliated Websites.

Typically, the Earnest Money Deposit is equal to the lesser of $1,000 or 1% of the winning bid/ offer amount. When the purchase and sale agreement is signed, the earnest money is due. Since the Winning Bid Deposit will be applied to the Earnest Money, only the remaining amount of the Earnest Money is due.

As each Seller may have different deposit requirements, please be sure to read and understand the Seller's requirements on the property page. If the winning bidder fails to close, the winning bidder may contractually be required to forfeit all deposits. These deposits will be held by the designated escrow agent and applied, at closing, toward the purchase price of the property.

The Web Transaction Fee is the amount paid by the winning bidder in addition to the winning bid amount for the property. The amount of the Web Transaction Fee is set forth on the property page but in no event will exceed 5% of the amount of the Winning Bid. This represents GoHoming's revenue and offsets GoHoming's cost of marketing the properties and running the online bidding process. The amount of the Web Transaction Fee will be reflected in the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. The Web Transaction Fee is ONLY applicable for Time Limit Properties - not for No Time Limit property purchases.

After you receive notification that your bid was the winning bid or that your offer is accepted, the seller will contact you concerning the completion of the purchase and sale agreement.

Open bids or offers (i.e. those that have been made but the property still remains open for additional bids or offers) may be retracted, subject to a cancellation fee of up to $350. Once you have been identified as the winning bidder or if your offer has been accepted by the seller, you have agreed to purchase the property. As you cannot cancel the bid/offer, it is imperative that you complete your due diligence and obtain financing for your acquisition of property, if necessary, prior to bidding/making an offer.

Under the terms of the purchase and sale agreement, most sellers have agreed to provide you with insurable title. As further protection, it is strongly recommended that you obtain owner's title insurance. Please refer to the purchase and sale agreement for a summary of the title requirements including who is responsible for the cost of the title policy.

No, unless otherwise indicated, for all properties listed, if there was a redemption period, it has expired.

Yes.  However, typically with REO properties the seller will pay for the title insurance policy if placed with their preferred provider.  This can result in a significant benefit for the buyer.  If the buyer chooses their own title company, they will lose this benefit and need to pay for the policy themselves.  Please refer to the terms of the purchase and sale agreement.

Typically, the closing costs are paid based according to the standards and customs for the state and county where the property is located. Please refer to the purchase and sale agreement for a summary of how the closing costs are handled. Typical closing costs include escrow fees, recording fees, lenders title insurance premiums and expenses, loan fees, document processing fees, document transfer taxes, homeowners' association dues and other miscellaneous and customary expenses and taxes.

Typically, the purchase and sale agreement requires the sale to take place within 30 days of the online bidding end date or offer acceptance date. Please refer to the purchase and sale agreement for a summary of terms.

You will receive from the seller the purchase and sale agreement and any other documents that may be necessary to put the property under contract. You must sign these documents and return them, along with your earnest money deposit, to the seller within the time frame set forth by the seller.

Pursuant to the Terms and Conditions and/or the purchase and sale agreement, the Winning Bid Deposit/Winning Offer Deposit and the 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. Also, you may not be eligible to bid or make offers on any other properties on the website.

Offers are rejected for two reasons:
(1) A superior offer was submitted.
(2) The offer did not meet the seller's expectation for an acceptable purchase price.

Most of the properties sold on this site do not contain a financing contingency. This means that regardless of whether you have financing or not, you are obligated to close on the transaction. If you fail to close on the transaction, you will likely be required to forfeit your deposit. If you need to secure financing to consummate the purchase of a property, we strongly recommend that you get pre-qualified for a loan prior to placing an offer. For questions about your financing needs, you may contact a GoHoming-recommended lender or a lender of your own choosing. Please keep in mind that not all properties will qualify for a loan due to their physical condition or the amount of the purchase price.

If you finance your purchase, most lenders will require that you obtain hazard insurance and, depending upon the location of the property, flood insurance. Even without lender involvement, insurance is still strongly recommended. We encourage you to determine and satisfy your requirements for flood and hazard insurance in advance of placing an offer on a property. For questions about flood insurance and hazard insurance, you may call a GoHoming-recommended provider or a provider of your own choosing. Please keep in mind that not all properties will qualify for a loan due to their physical condition.

Ocwen Financial Corp has selected GoHoming to list and market all its residential REO properties online. If you were previously registered on Ocwen.com's web site for REO listings, you should have received an email with your new password information to access your account for GoHoming and its Affiliate sites. If not, please contact us for that information.

We're affiliated with AltisourceHomes.com, and they are not hiring any new brokers or agents currently. However, check back soon for new job postings in the Careers section of our website. We also have a partnership with Ocwen Financial Corporation, and we market their REO homes for sale on our websites. If you'd like to become a listing broker for Ocwen, visit www.ocwen.com and select ‘Business Services’ on the home page. Then, click ‘Business Services’ and select ‘Valuation Services (ORA)’ from the drop-down menu. From there, click ‘Vendor/Broker Sign Up’ and fill out the form on the following page. Someone from Altisource will contact you, provide you with the required training, and then add you to our database of realtors.

Coming soon, you will be able to list your properties on GoHoming.com through their online bidding process. Be sure to visit our website again soon for details. In the meantime, you may email us at contactus@gohoming.com.

REO, or Real Estate Owned, properties are homes owned by the bank after the bank was unable to sell the property for the loan amount during a foreclosure auction. These properties are often in need of repair, but the amount you can save on the sale price of the home usually more than pays for any repair costs you might incur.

Perhaps the most important difference for buyers is the price. The price of foreclosure properties includes the amount of the outstanding loan, the accrued interest, attorney fees, and any other costs associated with the foreclosure sale. The price of REO properties, however, excludes some of the mortgage liens and expenses on the property. When selling an REO home, banks are willing to go below the original loan amount to avoid having to maintain the property themselves.

REO properties are usually priced lower than foreclosure properties, because they exclude expenses such as attorney fees and interest. Since banks and lenders are not in the business of maintaining homes, they are eager to sell REO homes and are more willing to negotiate after they fail to sell at foreclosure auctions.