RealEstateRaves

Like many other people I read about the big San Mateo County home auction scheduled for Saturday October 6 and I decided to check it out.  I drove to the San Mateo County Events Center (Fair grounds) and paid my $7 for parking and found a parking space quite some distance  from the center where the auction was being held.  I arrived at 10am and soon realized  the auction had started some 3 hours before.  There were two halls one filled with nearly 1,000 people seated in comfortable padded armless chairs listening to   an auctioneer speak at the speed of light and his staff screeming to him when someone ventured an offer price.  As quickly as the auctioneer yelled “sold” they introduced the next property and it all started again…over and over until the last property was sold at about 7pm.  I didn’t stay the whole time my ears wouldn’t have survived…it was loud, really loud!  My first visit I stayed until about 11am and then got up and visited the second hall nearby.  There I saw tables maybe 100 that accomodated the successful bidders who were finalizing their purchase and preparing to move on to other tables where title officers examined the paper work for correctness and the eventual close no later than 21 days from this date.  I came back at 4pm to see what if anything had changed.  Now the hall was filled with maybe 100 people and it seemed the deals were better for the bidders.  I did some quick arithmatic on the sales I observed and guessed in the morning bidders were winning with bids 50% over the starting bid and in the late afternoon 40% over the start bid.  Moral….pays to stay late.

I have to say the whole experience was fascinating and organized extremely well.  They guided regular folk from start to finish including getting preapproved right there so they could participate in the auction immediately.  Buyers were informed that they had to have cashier checks and personal checks for the exact amount of deposit required.  Most deposits were at least 5% of the purchase price.   As a successful buyer you were informed and you knew you had to close on the sale in 21 days or your deposit could be at risk and potentially forfeited to the auction company. 

It was interesting to see all the loan agents (75 at least) busily working with buyers getting them preapproved for the bidding war in the other room or actually signing loan docs right there.  This auction Saturday was staffed by Country Wide and I didn’t see any other lenders in the hall.  Likewise, Cornerstone Title was the only title company present and I learned later they planned the financial side of the auction event along with REDC (Real Estate Distribution Corporation) the events sponsor.  Go to www.USHomeAuction.com for more information.

What I haven’t mentioned was the level of excitement along with the incredible noise.  You really couldn’t hear yourself think.  All the more important that you should have spent the previous two weeks scouting out propsective homes from  top to bottom before wagering a bid.  I suppose that was the case for most successful bidders.  They knew all sales were final.   I had to chuckle at the sceen watching the auctioneer’s cadry of helpers dressed in black tuxedos litterally running up and down the isles shouting at the top of their lungs acknowledging a bid by a bidder seated close by them.  Often the auctioneer didn’t hear their loud voice and hand gesture or the gesture was a tenth of a second too late.  These well dressed gentleman stayed close to the bidder ready to assist should they wish to raise their ante.  You couldn’t help getting caught up in this excitement enjoying the sights and sounds all around. 

The next auction is scheduled for December and I can’t wait to attend.  This time though I will take the time to prepare myself by studying the properties to be auctioned.  But I can’t say I will actually particiate in this nerve racking process….we will see?

Joe Parosns

Filed under: Uncategorized