my experience with HomeSearch

[Waverly Rennie]

just wanted to share what I experienced. As other posters had said, I could see that it was probably the bank bidding up against me. By waiting till the last minute, literally, to make my next bid, they dropped the bidding increment from $2500 to $1000. I let them bid above me and dropped out, and they bid another 1k and then it ended, still under the reserve price. 

Sure enough, I got an email from some (home search) saying would you like us to submit your offer to the bank? and then I get another email saying, oh and btw this may take a few weeks. I said sure, expecting it would take a while, maybe some negotiation etc. 

Well i almost immediately got an email saying your offer has been accepted, and that I will have to sign the contract within 24 hours of getting it and all this stuff. I KNEW I had bid too much, then! it was still a decent price but...... So then they email to say you have 24 hours to click "confirm high bid"- but they don't tell me what would happen if I didn't. so I call customer service but they can't really tell me anything, i am trying to see if i will be in default if I don't confirm the high bid and thus would lose the $2500 deposit they are holding on my credit card which you have to put down in order to bid. 

So I go ahead and confirm high bid by clicking and filling in stuff, but meanwhile I email my auction manager and explain I am out here in Guinea dealing with the Ebola epidemic and about to go out to the field where there is no internet and I won't be able to deal with all this. I really didn't expect this to happen so soon because of the email saying I would have time. 

The auction manager emails back and says, given the circumstances, she would be willing to release the $2500 on the credit card and I can back out. I emailed back saying yes please, but I haven't heard back from her yet. I really don't have time to deal with it now so I decided to drop the deal. I will be very pleasantly surprised if this works out. 

just adding another data point for people's consideration!