US News

BID, BATH & BEYOND

Nearly 1,400 people yesterday flocked to a foreclosure auction in Midtown to try to get a great deal on a new home, vacation or rental property whose previous owner had fallen victim to the tanking economy.

“I’m sad that somebody lost their home, but it’s our opportunity. Their misfortune is our fortune,” said George Negron, 42, a mail carrier from The Bronx who attended the auction of about 120 properties at the Grand Hyatt hotel with wife Ivette.

The Negrons, who live with their two kids in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment in Morris Park, walked away as the new owners of a three-bedroom house in upstate Poughkeepsie.

The house had previously been assessed at $265,000, but the couple got it with their $125,000 bid — the very upper level of their budget.

“This is a lot bigger and more comfortable,” Negron said. “My children have their own rooms now.”

As good as Negron’s deal was, an even better bargain was found by Enrique Dovalo, 56, and his wife, Laura.

The Passaic, NJ, couple paid just $80,000 for a seven-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,076-square-foot house in Newark that was previously assessed at $425,000.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever come to an auction, and it’s worth it,” Laura Dovalo said of the event, run by the Real Estate Disposition Corp.

“For people who lost their homes, they need to rent. We can rent [this house] out to them.”

Michael Trafford, a 51-year-old construction worker from Island Park, LI, and his wife, Angela, 35, were happy after scooping up a foreclosed summer house in Bushkill, Pa., for $60,000, less than half of its previous assessment of $124,650.

“I think we did fairly reasonably,” said Trafford. “Normally, if I wanted to buy a house like this, I wouldn’t be able to afford it. It needs a little bit of work, but once it’s done, we can move in.”

Not everyone was thrilled by the event.

Outside the hotel, protesters from the housing-advocacy groups ACORN and Bail Out the People railed against the auction.

“It’s like vultures feeding off the pain of people,” said Carol Yost, 63, a Chelsea resident.

Tony Murphy, 43, said, “The new wave of foreclosures is being driven by layoffs and job loss. What’s going to stop the new epidemic of foreclosures?”

But Jim Corum, president of the Real Estate Disposition Corp., said, “You don’t want to have a vacant home on your street. That’s not a positive thing for anybody.

“What you see at these auctions is turning houses back to homes.”

dan.mangan@nypost.com