TAMPA, Fla. – April 27, 2009 – Not many people buy the same house twice – with two different women.
Robert Feltner almost did.
Feltner, 33, of Lutz, went with his fiancée to an auction of foreclosed homes last week at the Tampa Convention Center, hoping to find a deal.
He had his sights set on the three-bedroom, three-bath Spring Hill home he previously owned with his ex-wife.
The auction, hosted by Real Estate Disposition Corp., a California-based company, featured 105 houses up for auction, with properties stretching along the Gulf coast from Weeki Wachee to Sarasota.
In all, 75 were sold for $7.1 million, said company spokesman Rick Weinberg. Attendance was estimated at 1,150 people.
Respective bidders ranged from families looking for their first home to older couples looking for an investment property. Some people traveled from across the state, having participated in auctions earlier in the week. Others watched it live on the Internet, placing bids online.
Some of them walked away with a steal, snapping up homes and condominiums – many of which had been vacated by owners who no longer could afford the payments – for nearly half their listed value.
If anyone felt as if they were profiting off someone else’s misfortune, it wasn’t readily apparent.
“It’s all business,” said Diana Alebord of Sarasota. “It’s not personal.”
Feltner sat in the front row of the packed convention hall with his fiancée, Cheryl Robinson, He showed his driver’s license, which still had the Spring Hill property’s address listed as his own.
“We’re kind of buying it for an investment,” he said when asked whether it would be weird to live in the same house with a different woman. “It would be up to her.”
“I don’t think it would be that weird,” 30-year-old Robinson said. “Even if we walk away with nothing, it was exciting to come down here and try.”
The company had 700 properties across the state for sale this week at six auctions from Pensacola to Miami.
Last year, the company auctioned 32,799 homes for a total of $3.4 billion. So far this year, it has auctioned more than 7,650 homes for $750 million.
One reason is that foreclosures have accelerated.
In March, Florida had the fourth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
“We’re very pleased with the results from the Tampa auction,” company Chief Executive Officer Jeff Frieden said in a statement. “Many people walked away with some incredible bargains.”
The rules were strict. Anyone wanting to place a bid had to have $2,500 cash or a cashier’s check. Officials from several lending institutions, including Countrywide and Wells Fargo, waited behind a curtained-off area to meet with winning bidders.
Nathan Ayala and his wife, Paula, drove from Sarasota, their hearts set on a Bradenton property they hoped would be their first home.
Nathan Ayala said he attended an auction three weeks ago and was the high bidder on a property for $35,000. The bank, however, rejected the offer.
This time he brought cash, hoping $70,000 would secure their dream.
It wasn’t to be. The house sold for $82,500. The Ayalas said they aren’t discouraged.
“I know there’s enough homes out there to find what we’re looking for,” he said in an interview the next day.
Many people came to the auction after having visited properties. Alebord, 45, said she inspected three homes, hoping one of them would replace the condominium where she lives. All three were sold before the auction.
Alebord said she felt the presence of the previous owners when she went in person to see her choices.
“You can tell people abandoned it. They left,” she said. “Even though it was in good condition, you could feel the sense of loss.”
Once the auction began, the air inside the large concrete hall became charged with energy. The auctioneer barely breathed as he whipsawed through the listings, increasing the total sale price with each bid. Early sales set the tone: A $265,000 Wesley Chapel home sold for $135,000. A $375,000 New Port Richey house sold for $110,000.
Weinberg said the highest winning bid of the night came on a 1,112-square-foot one-bedroom condominium on Kennedy Boulevard. It was purchased for $141,750, despite having been valued at $340,000.
The lowest winning bid was $22,500 for a three-bedroom, two-bath house on North 16th Street, not far from Ybor City. The home had been valued at $114,600.
Feltner arrived at the auction well before its stated start time of 6:30 p.m. He and Robinson both came ready to buy, for the right price. They each set a personal limit of about $100,000.
“We might buy multiple if we can,” he said. “You can’t pass up a condo for five grand.”
The property he wanted was one of the last to be sold. Hours after arriving, he got his shot and let it go.
The house he previously owned, once valued at $185,500, was sold to someone else for $102,500. The starting bid was $5,000.
“I just didn’t continue to bid on it,” Feltner said in an interview the next day. “We could have bid $105,000 but didn’t want to.”
Copyright © 2009, Tampa Tribune, Fla
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