If you’re in this situation, hopefully this post will give you some insight on what to expect next. For a little background I’m not only approaching this from the standpoint of an REO agent, but from a person that has had a home foreclosed in past due to divorce. Please note that this is tailored for states with foreclosure process like Nevada those due non-judicial foreclosures with no redemption periods. When your home goes to “sale” tomorrow on the “courthouse steps”, it will either be bought by a 3rd party buyer, or no one will meet the banks asking price and the home goes back to the bank and becomes what’s called an REO (Real Estate Owned). From this point timeframes can differ greatly depending on what lender holds you note. It can be as quick as the very next day that the property is turned over to the REO department and assigned to a local REO agent to get the property sold. But I’ve also seen some property take up to six months (in rare instances) to be assigned to an REO agent. In any case, if you know that your home has gone to sale, you must be prepared to vacate your property immediately. From the sale date, you are no longer the legal owner of the property and are considered a trespasser on the banks property (that’s just part of deal when you originally signed that mortgage note). By the time that your home has gone to sale, you’ve most likely had half a year (6 months) of living in the property payment free and unless you totally loss all forms of income, you should have had time to save up some money to be able to afford security deposit and first month’s rent for some alternative place to stay. Now most banks will actually pay you a minimal amount of money to get ALL of your personal belongings out of the property and to leave it in a broom swept condition. You can expect anywhere from 150-1000 dollars (depending on the local area and what bank it is) for what is call Cash for Keys. It’s the banks way of giving some assistance with your move out and to insure that you won’t damage the property on the way out. The bank will want you out of the property within the next 14 day (typically, this can vary). Once a property is assigned to an REO agent that agent has 24 hours to verify occupancy and report back to the bank. If the property is still occupied the agent has to attempt to make contact with the occupants to work out a cash for keys agreement. At the same time, the bank also begins eviction proceedings as to not waste time in getting possession of the property and getting it sold. (remember that’s the goal of the bank, to get that bad dept off of their books as fast as possible for the most amount of money it can recoup You can expect either a knock on the door or a letter left at the property from the REO agent stating something to fact that the property has been foreclosed and basically that you have to get out and that you can do it the easy way (with a friendly cash for keys agreement) or the hard way (ignoring the letter or knock or being hostile towards the agent and being locked out by the sheriff with all your personal belongings placed in storage (that you are going to have to pay the fees for the get back) and possibly being auctioned off if not claimed) I strongly suggest taking the cash for keys agreement. On the move out date agreed upon in the cash for keys agreement, the agent will show up with the check, and will do a walk through the property. IF YOU HAVE NOT REMOVED ALL OF YOUR PERSONAL PROPERTY (ALL BOXES, CLOTHES, ETC) TO INCLUDE THE GARAGE AND ANY STORAGE SHEDS IN THE BACKYARD ETC. THE AGENT CAN NOT GIVE YOU THE CHECK!!! Let me explain why. The bank only puts out money once. If the agent allows you to leave personal property in the property and gives you the check, then he is going either have to move the rest of the property out himself (which isn’t going to happen!!) or pay someone to come and get it out. But when the agent submits the bill to the bank for reimbursement, the bank WILL NOT pay the agent back because they’ve already paid YOU (the occupant) to remove all personal property. Hope that makes sense. It’s not the agent being mean. It’s you not holding up your end of the barging. In a perfect world the property is clean; you get your check and are on your merry way. Everyone’s happy. Hope this helps. Remember I’ve been there.  Bryan Knight of The Knight Group, Real Estate / REO Specialist in Las Vegas, NV 702-845-8435