Nearly 1,600 people showed up in downtown San Jose on Saturday morning, hoping for a chance to buy one of over 190 foreclosed homes being sold off at bargain-basement prices.

The properties had been turned over to the auctioneer, Real Estate Disposition Corp., by lenders and were scattered throughout the East and South Bay. Frequently, homes sold at auctions like the one in San Jose have been abandoned or are in very poor condition, among other things.

“Banks are motivated, interest rates are at all-time lows, and you can buy low and sell high,” Walter Skrzynski, an executive vice president of the firm that ran the auction, told the crowd. “There’s not a better way to buy.”

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