I am writing to report what I see as a fraud that cost the bank money and cost me an opportunity to purchase a home that I could possibly afford, one block away from my elderly parents in Georgia.
There was a house in foreclosure and the holder of the mortgage was a large national Bank. The property was auctioned by a company called Hubzu and I won the bidding three times in a row! The first time I won with a bid of $53,000, then I think the second was in the $60,000 range and the third was a bit more, $64,000 I believe. I had a realtor making the bids for me. She worked very hard on my behalf and we both finally gave up empty-handed as all of our offers were turned down. She has documentation of the process and the fact that my bids were turned down three times in a row.
We were disappointed to be sure, however, our disappointment turned to shock when we discovered that the property was sold in the next bidding process for a mere $48,000!
I am very angry and upset at my lost opportunity to be able to afford to live near my parents and my realtor is very upset at her loss of a contract as well as frustrated by what we consider to be a rigged process. The bank *should* be angry too, as they could have made $5-$10,000 more on this sale!
This company, Hubzu is a farce. The bidding appears to be rigged. There was no way I was going to win that property, as their favored buyer was already chosen in my opinion. They told me every bid I won was not above the reserve, yet once I gave up, they sold it for $5,000 less than my lowest winning bid! This does not feel like America. This is a third world way of doing business.
The moral of my story >> Do not bid on any properties represented by Hubzu.com
I had won this particular property offered by Hubzu as an online auction, I am a licensed realtor in ohio and was bidding on behalf of my buyer. I visited the property the day before I placed a bid and the condition was good. After I placed the winning bid I visited the property again to find the power had been turned off by the seller, OCWEN(who is affiliated with Hubzu) leading to a flooded basement because the sump pump had no power. My assigned document processor assured me they would "fix" the flooded basement and insisted I sign the PSA(purchase sale agreement) immediately and then they would "fix" it. This was a red flag as I learned Hubzu's customer service was run out of India by individuals that were hard to understand, vague and were very pushy about signing their 30 page PSA. They told me it would take 3-5 days before the property preservation manager would get out there to "fix" it(when I asked how they would fix it they gave no details of what would be done just that they would "fix" it).
I waited 2 weeks and kept checking on the property only to see that the water just kept rising in the basement and no one ever showed up to "fix" it. I cancelled the transaction to negotiaite a lower price because the flood damage was going to cost more to fix than the original dry house I originally bid on. They relisted it and I won it again for 2,000 less, enough to cover some of the damages in the basement. They again hounded me to sign the PSA which they sent to me first to e-sign. As the Realtor I read the contract very carefully and then e-signed. After I e-signed the PSA they then sent a copy to my buyer, only his was different, they added a clause at the end of his PSA that stated he agreed to pay a $700.00 property preservation charge!! It was at the end and in small print and again not included in my copy that I as a Realtor signed. I have saved both of these emails and plan to forward them to the Ohio division of real estate. It is clearly deceptive and I don't do business this way. Please be very wary of dealing with the folks at Hubzu, they have very shady business ethics in my opinion. I have many cash buyers and will steer them clear of this unethical bunch at Hubzu.
Dealing with Hubzu was the worst! The whole system, be it traditional offer or auction, is one big headache. They play games, such as telling you your offer is accepted but you must send the required papers within 48 hrs...meantime they put the wrong address on this confirmation and when you call to make sure they have the correct property they don't return your call, then they "expire" their acceptance of your offer and you have to start all over again. So then, you are the only one placing an offer, you meet the reserve but they still want more so they pull the house and 2 days later put it up for auction.Again, you are the only one bidding and then in the last hour another bidder magically appears to run the price up and then disappears again. Hubzu just tricked you into paying $8000 more than when they accepted your first offer. On top of that, you were not allowed to turn the water on during inspection but you see stickers saying everything has been winterized. LIES! We had 18 burst pipes costing us $5000 to repair and we still have to repave our driveway which was dug up looking for the last leak. I can't begin to tell you what an aggravating fiasco it is dealing with this company from start to finish. It's amazing they sell any houses at all. I was paying cash and it was still a ridiculous, long process to close. I beg you to spare yourself the ulcer and not use this company.
This listing at Hubzu shows a decent looking house. Looking through the windows today made it clear that there is very extensive water damage to the house, which is not indicated in any way in the listing, which is being actively bid on. Buyer beware!
Hubzu Reviews
I am writing to report what I see as a fraud that cost the bank money and cost me an opportunity to purchase a home that I could possibly afford, one block away from my elderly parents in Georgia.
There was a house in foreclosure and the holder of the mortgage was a large national Bank. The property was auctioned by a company called Hubzu and I won the bidding three times in a row! The first time I won with a bid of $53,000, then I think the second was in the $60,000 range and the third was a bit more, $64,000 I believe. I had a realtor making the bids for me. She worked very hard on my behalf and we both finally gave up empty-handed as all of our offers were turned down. She has documentation of the process and the fact that my bids were turned down three times in a row.
We were disappointed to be sure, however, our disappointment turned to shock when we discovered that the property was sold in the next bidding process for a mere $48,000!
I am very angry and upset at my lost opportunity to be able to afford to live near my parents and my realtor is very upset at her loss of a contract as well as frustrated by what we consider to be a rigged process. The bank *should* be angry too, as they could have made $5-$10,000 more on this sale!
This company, Hubzu is a farce. The bidding appears to be rigged. There was no way I was going to win that property, as their favored buyer was already chosen in my opinion. They told me every bid I won was not above the reserve, yet once I gave up, they sold it for $5,000 less than my lowest winning bid! This does not feel like America. This is a third world way of doing business.
The moral of my story >> Do not bid on any properties represented by Hubzu.com
I had won this particular property offered by Hubzu as an online auction, I am a licensed realtor in ohio and was bidding on behalf of my buyer. I visited the property the day before I placed a bid and the condition was good. After I placed the winning bid I visited the property again to find the power had been turned off by the seller, OCWEN(who is affiliated with Hubzu) leading to a flooded basement because the sump pump had no power. My assigned document processor assured me they would "fix" the flooded basement and insisted I sign the PSA(purchase sale agreement) immediately and then they would "fix" it. This was a red flag as I learned Hubzu's customer service was run out of India by individuals that were hard to understand, vague and were very pushy about signing their 30 page PSA. They told me it would take 3-5 days before the property preservation manager would get out there to "fix" it(when I asked how they would fix it they gave no details of what would be done just that they would "fix" it).
I waited 2 weeks and kept checking on the property only to see that the water just kept rising in the basement and no one ever showed up to "fix" it. I cancelled the transaction to negotiaite a lower price because the flood damage was going to cost more to fix than the original dry house I originally bid on. They relisted it and I won it again for 2,000 less, enough to cover some of the damages in the basement. They again hounded me to sign the PSA which they sent to me first to e-sign. As the Realtor I read the contract very carefully and then e-signed. After I e-signed the PSA they then sent a copy to my buyer, only his was different, they added a clause at the end of his PSA that stated he agreed to pay a $700.00 property preservation charge!! It was at the end and in small print and again not included in my copy that I as a Realtor signed. I have saved both of these emails and plan to forward them to the Ohio division of real estate. It is clearly deceptive and I don't do business this way. Please be very wary of dealing with the folks at Hubzu, they have very shady business ethics in my opinion. I have many cash buyers and will steer them clear of this unethical bunch at Hubzu.
RUN AWAY!!!
Dealing with Hubzu was the worst! The whole system, be it traditional offer or auction, is one big headache. They play games, such as telling you your offer is accepted but you must send the required papers within 48 hrs...meantime they put the wrong address on this confirmation and when you call to make sure they have the correct property they don't return your call, then they "expire" their acceptance of your offer and you have to start all over again. So then, you are the only one placing an offer, you meet the reserve but they still want more so they pull the house and 2 days later put it up for auction.Again, you are the only one bidding and then in the last hour another bidder magically appears to run the price up and then disappears again. Hubzu just tricked you into paying $8000 more than when they accepted your first offer. On top of that, you were not allowed to turn the water on during inspection but you see stickers saying everything has been winterized. LIES! We had 18 burst pipes costing us $5000 to repair and we still have to repave our driveway which was dug up looking for the last leak. I can't begin to tell you what an aggravating fiasco it is dealing with this company from start to finish. It's amazing they sell any houses at all. I was paying cash and it was still a ridiculous, long process to close. I beg you to spare yourself the ulcer and not use this company.
This listing at Hubzu shows a decent looking house. Looking through the windows today made it clear that there is very extensive water damage to the house, which is not indicated in any way in the listing, which is being actively bid on. Buyer beware!