What have your experiences been with auctions?

[Pete Woelfel]

I wanted to share a recent experience I had and see if others have had similar.

I was interested in a duplex in the Milwaukee area. It was listed on the MLS and I was prepared to make an offer. When my agent went to put one in he realized it was only available on an auction site. I was hesitant about using an online auction to buy a property, and the auction came and went without the reserve being met. A few days later it was back up for auction. This time I submitted a bid and at the last moment another bid came in just ahead of me. So I lost it, no big deal.

Then a few days later, at 2:30pm on a Friday I got an email from the auction site that there was a contract issue with the winning bidder and as the second highest bidder I was being given a chance to make a bid before it was put back on the auction, but the offer had to be in by 8am on Monday. I called them and confirmed I was the only one who could offer and they said I was. I submitted an offer at the reserve price which was what the previous winning bid was. They emailed me back thanking me for being prompt and saying they were now sending over a form for me to complete (financing type, what title company did I want to use, etc). There were clear instructions that I needed to have this form filled out by noon the following day (Tuesday). 3 hours later they sent another email apologizing and saying the seller had conveyed the property to HUD and there was nothing they could do about it.

At the end of the day, no big deal and I certainly learned some lessons, but it leaves me with a really sour taste in my mouth for using auction sites.  I felt like they promised me something they couldn't deliver.

I'm curious if others out there regularly use these sites (or if you've used them at all) and what kinds of experiences have you had?