Anyone bought a house up for auction before?

[hellokitty]

There is a house that we are interested in that is going up for auction in a couple of weeks. We are setting up an appt next wk to see it (private showing by appt only), it was custom built in the 1940's and is being put on auction by the widow (husband died in the spring of this yr) and I was told that she is desperate to sell. I have no clue how good or bad the inside of the house is, I called the company and they say that they are reluctant to say, since everyone's idea of updated is different, but he said it is definitely in liveable condition and the wife still lives there and the house has been taken care of. I drove up to quickly see it from the outside today and it is beautiful. Nothing may come of this if the house is in need of too many updates or repairs. We kind of settled when we bought our current home, I don't love it, but I don't hate it, and DH's job is finally stablized after a yr of uncertainty and we could stay in the area if we wanted to. However, I would really like to hear the experiences and advice of any BBBer's who have been through this process and what you would/wouldn't do, tips, etc.. DH is concerned about us balancing two mortgages at the same time before our current house sells, if we go forward with this. I personally think that our house, which is updated to the hilt compared to other houses in the area, would probably sell rather quickly if we listed it, so I'm not worried that if we listed that our house would sit for long. Anyway, I'd love to hear stories and opinions. Thanks.

[brittone2]

I've been to a few such auctions over the years. SIL purchased her house this way, but my FIL was a builder and is very knowledgeable about needed repairs, costs, etc. and is very handy. She bought a little brick cape back in the 90s for a really low price and it has been a great house overall for her.

We just went to one a few weeks ago for an old farmhouse. We were there for the contents (antiques, art, etc.) but it is always interesting to see how the process works. In this case there was one day for inspection. The mechanicals to the house were totally off (electric, plumbing, etc.) which makes it a greater challenge I think to have it inspected. I'd make sure I had someone with inspection experience for that type of scenario, because I think it is a little different possibly.

Prior to his passing, MIL and FIL were considering downsizing to a rancher. They had gone to a few auctions for various ranchers and I know there was one they wished they had bid higher on because it would have been great for them. I don't think they were 100% committed psychologically to more from their home of many years. In their case, they took out a HELOC against their home so they could write a check if they ever found one at an auction that they really wanted to have . We didn't know they had that until FIL passed, as we then had to close all of that out. They were also open to buying via a realtor situation, but there are a good # of ranchers that come up in our area via auctions, so they just wanted to remain open to that idea, particularly with FIL's background.

Best of luck!

[mskitty]

Twice we've been serious about buying at auction. The first one we had it at going twice and last call before someone else upped their bid. It was our max bid so we couldn't up the bid (rehab in a very nice neighborhood). The last time we were prepared to bid at auction. However, the house was put under contract a few days before the live auction. Lately we've been seeing more of "Real estate sold prior to auction - auction is now contents only". If you are serious about the property, I'd go see it and consider placing an offer prior to the auction.

I grew up going to auctions... both of the cars we are currently driving and most of our antique mahogany furniture was bought at auction.

mskitty