Foreclosure Auctioneer's Lonely Task

"I've got some sales lately on loans that were written in 2007, and I can tell from the original note and debt that [the owner] never paid anything on it," Crossley said. "But I've got sympathy for people who fall on hard times and lose their homes."

To Crossley's relief, the owners of the foreclosed properties aren't showing up at the auctions, either. In most cases, he said, they have vacated their homes, driven out by a barrage of threatening letters and intimidating legalese.

Because Nectar Projects handles foreclosures across Virginia, Crossley's auctioneering takes him to courthouses in small towns far down the Shenandoah Valley. The long drives on narrow back roads suit him just fine, he said. He likes the solitude, and he wards off boredom with books on tape.

"It's amazing what a beautiful state we live in," he said.

Still, most of his company's auctions are in Northern Virginia. On a Thursday this month, with auctions in Prince William, Fairfax and Arlington counties behind him, Crossley reached the historic courthouse in Leesburg at 3 p.m., with two Loudoun County houses to offer.

Once again, no one was there, but Crossley shouted out the auction anyway, his voice echoing off the building's thick white columns and red bricks. His only company was a statue of a Confederate soldier.

In a matter of minutes, the auction was over and Crossley's day was complete. Fourteen more Northern Virginia houses were now bank-owned, for better or worse.

"It's a crazy business," Crossley said, heading back to his car. "But it's real estate, so it's got to turn around sooner or later."