Foreclosure filings in the Denver area fell about 1.6 percent in the third quarter of this year, but there are still quite a few of them. More than 9,200 properties—or one in every 113 households—in the Denver-Aurora area are in some stage of the process, according to the Denver Business Journal. The foreclosures are a sad commentary on how some families have been hit hard by the recession. But they can also be seen as an opportunity—if you can find the cash. And plenty of buyers are finding great deals once they discover how to navigate the hidden costs of auctions. Andy Schultheiss tells CBS4 he purchased a four-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot house in Boulder—once worth $880,000—for just $440,000 (plus $22,000 in fees) through the auction process. “It’s pretty crazy. I was a little confused while we were going through the numbers. In fact, I out-bid myself once because I didn’t know who had won the bid. But by the end I was the one left standing,” Schultheiss says. The home isn’t his yet; the bank has the final word on the sale and can refuse.