Attendees at the Harris County Delinquent Tax Sale and foreclosure auction describe it as a bizarre and arcane function akin to a circus. On the first Tuesday of each month, the Bayou City Event Center fills with people armed with $5 cash for parking — and far more in their wallets — to buy distressed properties, some hoping to get their foot in the door of real estate investing, others looking to add more residences to big portfolios. Employees act as ringleaders, directing beginners and auction vets where to go. Colorfully clad vendors, some in costume, offer foreclosure sale information and the odd performance. Crowds gather around a stage where auctioneers navigate a high wire of rapid-fire bids for dozens of houses. At the Harris County auction, commercial property sales get little more attention than a sideshow. But it's the kind of place where the quiet $50M sale of an apartment complex happens side by side with raucous battles to gobble up foreclosed-upon residential homes. For small and first-time investors, the monthly event is an opportunity to step into the ring. And for a handful of others, it’s the place to snap up multimillion-dollar commercial properties at rock-bottom prices. 
“There are two kinds of people: people that have been to a foreclosure auction and people that have never been,” said Michael Knight, executive vice president of Better World Properties, a multifamily property owner and operator.Knight has now attended two foreclosure auctions,… Read the full story here. | 
