Selling a Home at an Auction

 Selling a home at auction allows the owner to sell the home quickly. Many of the homes you will find for sale at auction include bank owned properties, homes facing foreclosure, and distressed properties. There are thousands of homes that get auctioned off every month around the country. Not all properties sold at auction have been taken over by the bank sometimes a homeowner will opt to sell their home at auction to sell the home quickly and efficiently. Selling a home at auction does offer a faster sell but is it the best option for you?

Selling at auction brings the benefit of not having to show the home as with a traditional sale. Showing a home can be one of the most cumbersome parts of selling, there is the staging or getting the home ready and looking presentable and then there is the constant rearranging of your schedule to open your home so that agents and potential buyers can come and see the property. Not to mention the fun of keeping the home spotless for those agents that don’t honor appointment setting and call when they are five minutes away.

Many times houses sold at auction are in less than perfect condition and buyers bidding in homes are usually aware of this fact. Typically the house is sold as-is in its current condition with no conditions. The sellcan be as quick as minutes and the close takes around 45 days.

Here are some different types of real estate auctions:

Auction with Reserve

This auction allows a home owner or agent to reserve the right to accept or reject a bid offer. If the highest offer does not match the seller’s reserve price they have the right to decline. This type of auction can be a turn off to buyers as there is no guarantee of winning even if the buyer has the highest bid.

Minimum Bid

A minimum price is set by the seller and the auctioneer will not accept any bid lower than that price.

Absolute Auction

The home is sold to the buyer with the highest bid regardless of the amount of the highest bid.

Auction is an option to get your home sold quickly but it is not the only option. There is actually an easier and less stressful way to sell your home quickly and that is to sell to a cash buyer. Selling your home for cash to a reputable buyer will allow you to bypass showing the home and going through a longer traditional sale without wondering if you will receive a good bid. A cash home buyer will offer you a fair all cash offer on your home in its current condition just as with an auction but much less stress and hassle.  Banks favor all cash offers as the funds for the purchase are guaranteed. There is also no waiting for buyer loan approval making the closing process much faster.

Thank you to Jay Lieberman, Oak Park real estate agent in California, for his post this week on real estate auctions.  Jay is an expert in homes and real estate throughout Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks California including luxury town homes and estates on the lakes.