When buying Lake Michigan real estate, you may have possibly considered foreclosure auctions.  Foreclosure auctions are skewed towards the more adventurous and experienced types but if you have a good grasp of what you’re doing and the risks involved you can potentially snag some huge deals.  Despite the cutthroat nature, a few ground rules should help increase your odds of winning that property.

Oftentimes the automatic thing to do is to start bidding for Lake Michigan properties incessantly as soon as bidding is open…don’t bother.  By constantly shouting out your own bid you’re only fueling the fire and ramping up the final sale price.  Instead wait until bids start to get quieter before you start upping the bid.

Another thing you may want to consider on a broader scale is where you intend on purchasing.  Lake Michigan real estate aside, if you’re planning on bidding on a home that you intend to resell, it’s not worth your time to buy one that’s in a neighborhood full of foreclosure properties.  The odds are that the values of all the properties are still in freefall.

What tips have you found to be effective in foreclosure auctions?