Hundreds of properties will be up for sale next month during Riverside County’s parcel sale of tax-defaulted property, giving opportunities for first-time homebuyers to break into the market.

Moreno Valley residents Naomi and Randy McSwain are on the hunt for a home in Southern California.

“We aren’t looking for much,” Naomi McSwain told NBC Los Angeles. “Not a mansion, just something comfortable and affordable that we can spend the rest of our years.”

But like prospective buyers across California know, buying a home is not easy.

“Everything was out of our price range and we went to Texas,” Naomi McSwain explained. “The weather drove us back. We are renting while we wait for the perfect place within our price range.”

Now, a new option might be on the horizon for the McSwains through Riverside County’s annual online auction, which begins at 8 a.m. on April 23 and runs through April 28.

To participate, buyers must register ahead of time and have a $5,000 deposit ready to submit by 4 p.m. on April 20.

The properties are sold “as is,” and bidding will be in increments of at least $100.

“As it stands now, we are sitting at over 800 parcels [for sale],” Adelina Abril, of the Riverside County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office, told NBCLA. “We have a mixture of vacant land and properties that have dwellings on them.”

Some parcel bids begin as low as $100. 

The county’s website includes maps and the list of properties featured in this year’s sale, from properties in Lake Elsinore and Corona, to homes listed in the City of Riverside.

“We urge all prospectives bidders to do their due diligence, research, and drive by the property to make sure it’s what you want to buy before you place your bid,” Abril said.

Randy McSwain said the properties they’re looking at are mainly foreclosures.

“You feel sorry because someone is losing their home” he said.

And while the McSwains say buying a property at an auction has its perks, putting in their bid will be a challenge on its own, as investors tend to sweep in with full cash offers.

“One is getting approval from the lender and all the competition because I would see bids, and you know where they were coming from, and couldn’t match it,” Naomi McSwain said.

According to the county’s terms of sale for this year’s tax sale, Riverside County owners with tax-defaulted properties on the sale list have until April 22 to redeem their property. The list of properties will be finalized on the day of the sale.