Buying the Farm - Online Property Auction

[misanman]

We are seriously considering bidding on some property that is being sold to settle an estate. The property sale is being handled as an online auction.

Aside from Ebay, I have no experience with this sort of thing and I'm looking for advice on how to increase our chances of winning while avoiding over spending.

The auction will end at 2:00 PM on the 31st, except that any bid received will extend the deadline by 5 minutes.

The terms of the auction are cash sale (no contingencies for financing, etc). Settlement will be within 30 days.

There has been some bidding already, but I expect the serious bidding to take place on the 31st. The current bid is $115K but I wouldn't be surprised to see a winning bid of $200K plus.

Does anyone have experience with an online real estate auction and what advice would you give?

 

[calmloki]

We bought our La Quinta home from Auction.com at an online sale. Took about a minute from the initial offer to the final gavel. Went for about $25k more than we thought it would go for, but was still a fine buy. Be very aware of the auctioneers "buyer's premium", which can add 5-10% to the final cost. Kinda like Ebay - figure out the most you would pay, then resist the normal auction fever. We didn't, but it was ok since our initial expected auction final value was implausibly low.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

misanman, do you know anything at all about the property? You know, the thing about a pig in a poke? What do you know about the land. Must have had a great writeup. Normally there a lot of legalities involved in buying and/or selling land. Who is handling this part of the equation?

 

[tryan]

I closed a Fannie Mae home in march via auction.com .... My high bid was below the reserve but Fannie took it.They sat on the offer for 15 days. Said "yes" then I had to close with cash on the 30th day.

Need to have your ducks in line ... this stuff is not for the faint heart.

Closing was all done online with a local title company ... wire the cash to an escrow account ... sit with a notary on the day of the closing. Then scan/fax the docs and fedx the originals. Except for sitting with a notary, I never had to leave the house.

Little bit funny - the listing realtor had the property in the MLS for almost DOUBLE my bid. So when told the high bid (from my realtor) she said "oh. they'll NEVER accept THAT". Lead me to believe Fannie had regected higher offers .... but who knows.

 

[misanman]

misanman, do you know anything at all about the property? You know, the thing about a pig in a poke? What do you know about the land. Must have had a great writeup. Normally there a lot of legalities involved in buying and/or selling land. Who is handling this part of the equation?

I know some things about the property but I'm not sure how much you want to know. It is directly across the road from our summer lake house, consists of about 80 acres and has 600+ feet of frontage. About 25 acres are tillable and the rest is wooded. It is being auctioned by the order of probate court as the owner died without a will. The proceeds will be divided among the 17 heirs (nieces and nephews, no direct descendents). We have walked the property so I am familiar with it from that perspective. There is a house and a barn (no pigs ) but we would likely have the house torn down as it really is uninhabitable. The property is offered "as is". The closing will be handled by the real estate auction company and they will provide a title policy and a warranty deed.

 

[pb4uski]

Sounds like you know what you are buying and it will be a nice addition to your lake house. Let us know how things work out.

 

[chris2008]

Good luck! It might be worthwhile to buy if you can afford, if only to avoid bad neighbors.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I know some things about the property but I'm not sure how much you want to know. It is directly across the road from our summer lake house, consists of about 80 acres and has 600+ feet of frontage. About 25 acres are tillable and the rest is wooded. It is being auctioned by the order of probate court as the owner died without a will. The proceeds will be divided among the 17 heirs (nieces and nephews, no direct descendents). We have walked the property so I am familiar with it from that perspective. There is a house and a barn (no pigs ) but we would likely have the house torn down as it really is uninhabitable. The property is offered "as is". The closing will be handled by the real estate auction company and they will provide a title policy and a warranty deed.

This quote was in response to my questions and sounds like you are very familiar with the property. Sounds like something I would pursue also. Good luck.