Buyer Information

  • Unless otherwise specified, foreclosure auctions in Maryland take place at on the courthouse steps at the Circuit Courthouse for the county in which the property is located. Foreclosure auctions in Washington, DC take place at our Washington, DC office. Click here for information on Courthouse locations.
  • Foreclosure auctions may cancel up to the minute of the sale. We make every effort to update our website as soon as our office receives notification of a cancellation.
  • To bid at our real estate foreclosure auctions, you must bring with you the required deposit in the required form as indicated by the legal advertisement (typically, the form will be cashier’s checks or certified bank checks). Personal checks, letters of credit, or any other form of payment or promise of payment will be considered insufficient and will not be accepted.
  • Deposit checks should be made payable to yourself (and will be endorsed to the Trustee after purchase, if you should be the successful bidder), UNLESS you are planning to bid on a H.U.D. (Housing and Urban Development) sale. To be a qualified bidder for these types of auctions, ALL deposits (the required form as indicated by the advertisement) must be made payable to the Secretary of HUD. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.
  • When you arrive at the auction, be sure to make your presence known to the Auctioneer or Trustee, who will have you sign in, and then certify your deposit.
  • There will be no exchange of funds unless you are the successful bidder.
  • Generally, there is no access to the property prior to the foreclosure auction. The property will be sold in an “AS-IS” “WHERE-IS” condition. For the most part, we do not have any additional information relating to the property (number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.) other than what is contained within the legal advertisement.
  • If you are the successful bidder, you will immediately sign a memorandum of sale and tender your non-refundable deposit to the trustee. The memorandum of sale contains the terms and conditions present in the legal advertisement.
  • In Maryland, after the auction takes place, the sale must be ratified by the Circuit Court for the county in which the property is located. The timeline for ratification varies by jurisdiction, but 60-90 days is a good approximation. After ratification, you will have a certain number of days to get your financing together and settle.
  • As a matter of course, we do not offer a broker commission split on foreclosure sales. If you represent a buyer, you must negotiate your commission directly with your client. There is no Buyer's Premium in foreclosure sales.
  • Please see the legal advertisement for the full terms and conditions of sale. The legal advertisement for each sale is published once a week for three successive weeks before the sale in a newspaper of general circulation for the county in which the property is located. A list of newspapers can be found here. A copy of the legal advertisement for each sale can also be found on our upcoming sales page. In the event there is a discrepancy, the legal advertisement published in the newspaper for any given foreclosure sale controls over any information contained herein.

PROSPECTIVE PURCHASERS ARE URGED TO PERFORM THEIR OWN DUE DILIGENCE WITH RESPECT TO THE PROPERTY PRIOR TO THE FORECLOSURE AUCTION. TIDEWATER AUCTIONS, LLC DOES NOT REVEAL FORECLOSURE AUCTION BID AMOUNTS PRIOR TO THE AUCTION SALE. IF YOU OBTAIN AN AUCTION BID AMOUNT FROM ANY THIRD-PARTY SOURCE (WITH EXCEPTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE TRUSTEE), THAT AUCTION BID AMOUNT MAY HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE ACTUAL AUCTION BID AMOUNT SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF THE SECURED PARTY AT THE AUCTION SALE. For additional information, please contact the Substitute Trustees.

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