Tips for buying an owner occupied rural property at auction?

[Chris M.]

Been looking to purchase a rural property for a few weeks and found a pretty remote one but it’s being sold at auction.  I’m unfamiliar with properties sold at auction.   What should I know?  What are the potential dangers?  How to avoid them? Benefits to buying st auction etc?

[Nathan Gesner]

First things first, you have to have cash on hand. If you bid $150,000 then they will expect you to pay that entire amount, usually within hours of winning the auction.

Second, you don't get time to investigate the property. Everything could look good on paper, then you find out the foundation is so bad that the entire thing needs to be torn down. Or the water used to irrigate the field was stolen from the neighbors and this property has no water rights. Or there are $350,000 in liens against it and now you owe far more than the property is worth.

It's not something you should go into without some serious education first.