73-4920 Manu Mele Street - Auction Recap

The Manu Mele St. foreclosure was held today, 1-10-24.  This was the property that had only the shell of a house and a private lender.  

There appeared to be many folks in attendance for the auction, but only one party was bidding against the private lender.  

Although in most cases, the banks typically only send a representative with one bid, this private bidder started the bid at $780k and ran the 3rd party bidder up to $879k.  I found this interesting for two reasons: 

1.  It was risky!  I don't believe the private lender wanted the hassle of dealing with this property, and with every bid above what he was owed, he could have pushed the 3rd party bidder out. 

2.  Only $850k total was owed on the property.  There was no reason for the private lender to bid above this amount and yet he did, three times!  Every increment above $850k was a risk that the other bidder might drop out and also, every cent above the total owed goes to the borrower in the default!  The private lender just earned $29k for the borrower by running the bid up.  Very interesting.