A Grandmother Goes to Foreclosure Auction

When Blair Berry walked onto the Hamilton County courthouse steps last fall, she was not there as a seasoned property investor. She came with a different objective: to secure a small house near her daughters in Chattanooga so she could help care for two newborn grandchildren.

“I just want you to know I’m doing this because I have two new grandbabies,” she recalled telling bystanders after the auctioneer announced she had placed the winning bid. “And they all applauded. It was really sweet.”

Berry is among a growing share of owner-occupant buyers participating in Chattanooga foreclosure auctions, according to Auction.com data. Nearly one in five Auction.com buyers (18 percent) described themselves as owner-occupants in a February 2026 buyer survey.

Her path to the courthouse was short and unexpected. The Monday before the auction, her daughter spotted a listing for a modest house around the block that was set for foreclosure sale that Thursday. Berry had been commuting weekly to Chattanooga to help with childcare since her husband’s death five years earlier and needed a place to stay during visits.

“I’ve just been going back and forth to Chattanooga and needed a place to land when I’m there,” she said. “I go there every week to take care of them.”

With only three days to prepare, Berry began researching the Tennessee foreclosure process online and the auction rules that apply in her county. She turned to Auction.com, which was marketing the property online and conducting the auction on the courthouse steps.

“There was so much great information that really … helped me decide that I was going to go do it,” she said, noting that she had never purchased a property at auction before.

Still, the accelerated timeline posed financial and logistical challenges. Berry contacted her financial advisor, who helped move the necessary funds. He also connected her with a banker she had known for years.

“Somehow we made it all happen,” she said, describing the rapid sequence of steps needed to assemble cashier’s checks before the sale.

Berry arrived early on auction day and was immediately put at ease when she saw the Auction.com staff.

“There were two or three gals there that had their bright green Auction.com shirts, and they were just so friendly and helpful,” she said. “I had enough time to ask some questions. And they were very reassuring.”

One of the employees in green was Doretha “Dee Dee” Hider, who remembers the scene well because it was the first time she was giving some announcements at sale after several months of training.

“You had two first-timers,” she said. “You had Blair who was the first-time buyer at the auction, and you had me. It was my first time actually doing my general announcement and the notice of sale.”

The crowd of bidders also included more experienced participants. At one point Berry overheard a man mention he and his business partner owned about 30 properties.

“I’m thinking, OK, here you go, he’s flush with cash,” she said. “And that will be that.” Hider noticed Berry’s nervousness and struck up a conversation with her.

“She starts saying how nervous she was, and she was afraid that people were going to be outbidding her,” Hider said, adding she sees quite a few first-timers like Berry at the foreclosure auctions she works for Auction.com across Georgia and Tennessee.

“Sometimes they’re really nervous about the process because they don’t fully understand it. But once they watch a few going on and then we walk them through the process … they pretty much get comfortable.”

Berry said that observing an earlier sale — where eight bidders competed, including one Remote Bid participant — helped her understand how the process unfolded.

“It was simple,” she said. “Actually, the person that won was bidding online [via Remote Bid].”

Berry and her financial advisor had agreed on a maximum bid of $175,000. When the bidding for the Chattanooga house began, she stayed within that limit, ultimately winning the property for just over $173,000.

“I was going to stop (at $175,000) for sure,” she said. “So, it was nice that we didn’t get quite that far.”

Hider recalled how the auction played out from her perspective.

“People who didn’t know her, once they actually started hearing the story, everybody was kind of cheering her on. When the property was actually cried, she did her bids, and before you know it, she was the winner of the property,” Hider said. “It was just for me so touching because it was about unity and family and a great opportunity for her to be so close to her new grandbaby coming.”

The successful bid meant Berry would soon have a permanent base close to both daughters’ homes while still giving their families some space.

“It’s hard having your mother-in-law. You know, you can’t walk around your house in your underwear or anything,” she said, adding that her daughters’ families have been great to host her for so long. “So, it will be nice and I can just keep my stuff there. And I can feel like I’m giving them space.”

Berry credits the detailed information on Auction.com along with the helpful Auction.com staff on site for helping her to participate in something she may not have tried otherwise. In Tennessee, foreclosure auctions may be conducted either by the county sheriff or through a third-party auction company like Auction.com.

“If it had been the sheriff, I would not have done it because I wouldn’t have been comfortable,” she said. “Buying a home at auction in Tennessee felt manageable because I could go on Auction.com, read all of the information on there, and then even talk to the people that day. It just was really reassuring.

“The Auction.com people were just fantastic,” she continued. “They were so helpful and encouraging and knowledgeable, and fun. They made it a really great experience.”

Berry has since encouraged other buyers — especially those having a tough time affording a home — to consider foreclosure auctions. She referenced a friend’s son and daughter-in-law who rent an apartment in Chattanooga and believe homeownership is out of reach.

“I would definitely recommend for them to look at some of the auctions,” she said, “Especially if Auction.com was facilitating it.”

Her comment aligns with trends in the region. Chattanooga home prices remain a challenge for many buyers: The median list price for properties in the Chattanooga metro area was $399,450, according to data from Realtor.com. That’s more than twice the price Berry paid for the auction property, and more than 2.5 times the average foreclosure auction sales price of $150,703 in Chattanooga in 2025, according to Auction.com sales data.

“It’s really such a shame that some really crummy houses are way overpriced now,” Berry said, lamenting the current state of the real estate market.

The more affordable price points at foreclosure auction come with additional risks for buyers like Berry.

One risk is dealing with the current occupants of a property if it is occupied. Berry did not take immediate possession of the property she purchased because it was occupied at the time of sale. The process of gaining access took about two months, ending with a court-facilitated mediation.

“So, we went out with the mediator and (the former occupant) didn’t argue at all, gave me the keys basically,” Berry said, taking the process in stride. “Sometimes you have these little hiccups and so that was OK.”

Another risk: foreclosure auction buyers like Berry don’t have an opportunity to get inside the home before they purchase it.

“We couldn’t see inside pictures,” she said, adding that talking with neighbors gave her some reassurance that the property had been renovated about five years ago. “I knew in just talking with the neighbors who I met walking the dog … that it had been gutted, that it had a new roof put on it.

“Obviously the guy that was living there could have trashed it and I didn’t know for sure,” she said. “But I was thinking, well, if it’s been renovated five years ago, I mean, how bad could it be?”

Once she saw the inside of the home, Berry was relieved to see the condition was not as bad as she had expected.

“I got inside the house and it was pretty much fine,” she said, noting a few issues, including a bathroom wall that she plans to have fixed along with a minor roof leak and concrete countertops in the kitchen — both of which she had already addressed.

When Berry spoke about the experience later, she said she was in the midst of renovations and looking forward to having her own place nearby during weekly childcare trips.

She described the layout of the home, which seemed larger than she expected based on the square footage: two sizable bedrooms and a smaller room she plans to turn into a space for the grandchildren.

“I can have some toys in there, and there could be a crib or something for them,” she said. “So, it will be nice.”

For Berry, the purchase represents stability — and proximity — in a period defined by family needs.

“My daughter and I did a lot of Zillow hunting, and just nothing appropriate or in the right place,” she said, noting that foreclosure auction offered a rare alternative. “I feel thankful.”