Purchase Experience with Auction.com

[Ben F.]

Hello Fellow BP Members,

Anyone care to elaborate on their purchase experience through auction.com? 

My questions are regarding a successful bid and the turn time before full ownership, for foreclosure and bank owned. I want to know how long it took before you had the deed and could begin your strategy.

If a property is listed and contingent, and at the auction at the same time, who gets the property, successful bidder or interested MLS buyer? I've seen properties being bidded on while also under contract.

Any insight is helpful. Thanks!

[Vic Iyer]

I have bought multiple properties through auction.com

My most recent experience:

Auction never reached the reserve price and was pulled up by auction.com to get to the reserve price. They relisted it several times with the reserve price dropping every other time. In the last time they called me during auction and told me I was very close to reserve price and I incremented my bid by a small amount and won it.

They pushed me to get the papers signed and wired the EMD asap. I hired my own title company and run through the title search and closing.

What to watch out:

1. Don't end up over bidding! Seld-displine is the key. IF you don't get it then look for the next one!

2. Hire a title company to run through title search.

3. Generaly the reserve price is artificially kept high to entice a naive bidder to bid and ober pay for the property. 

4. don't forget your 5% premium on top of tyour bid price. 

5. IF bidding on "occupied home" see what kind of title they are giving (Special warranty deed versus Quitclaim). Stay away from quitclaim. Also investigate who is living there on what's going on before trying to bid.