Property Auctions

[SHELLY]

Saw an ad in today's WSJ about an upcoming Florida Gulfcoast Real Estate Auction (SoWal & Bay County Properties) to be held at Cafe 30-A on March 4th. May be able to pick up a bargain?

 

[CastlesOfSand]

I'm in!

 

[Miss Kitty]

Great idea...free drinks and auction paddles!!!

Hey CoS...I'll be joining you in the SoWal jail!

 

[monty]

Saw an ad in today's WSJ about an upcoming Florida Gulfcoast Real Estate Auction (SoWal & Bay County Properties) to be held at Cafe 30-A on March 4th. May be able to pick up a bargain?

I saw the ad in the WSJ and went to the higginbotham website. There are quite a few properties listed along 30A. This is a sign of the absolute softness in the local RE market.

If you hear about the results, please post.

 

[Amp22]

I saw the ad in the WSJ and went to the higginbotham website. There are quite a few properties listed along 30A. This is a sign of the absolute softness in the local RE market.

If you hear about the results, please post.

Actually, auctions are quite common these days. We've had them here for years. Now if you see a list of foreclosures in the area - let us know ( absolutely:roll: ).

 

[Jellyfish]

Just curious- why would an owner auction instead of simply listing for an attractive price? Unless you are talking about a real sellers market where multiple buyers are bidding the prices up, in a normal market aren't you always going to get a lower price in an auction?

 

[SHELLY]

Just curious- why would an owner auction instead of simply listing for an attractive price?

They've probably tried getting "their" price but "their" (too high) price wasn't the "market" price. So they believe going to auction is better then blowing up balloons and sitting at their house every Sunday afternoon waiting for buyers to come by and snap up the property at "their" price. (The owners who refuse to lower their price have the same mindset as the Worldcom shareholders who rode their stock into the ground. But with Worldcom one could only go to Zero, whereas with real estate, one can lose "minus-Zero" and end up having to bring money to the table to get out from under a mortgage. Real Estate investing isn't riskless--regardless of what developers say.)

Usually when the properties go to auction (and the WSJ is listing more and more of these auctions across the nation every week) owners believe they can get an audience frothed up in a bidding war and hope to get "their" price or (hopefully) better. The sooner they get these properties out there while there are still a few folks who believe we're still in a "hot" real estate market, they have a better chance of getting "their" price.

My guess is that a lot of these properties now going to auction are "investulators" trying to dump the properties into a softening market. IMO there will be more and more such auctions coming in the next few months to a year--the condo auctions will be especially interesting.

 

[SHELLY]

Actually, auctions are quite common these days. We've had them here for years. Now if you see a list of foreclosures in the area - let us know ( absolutely:roll: ).

From: RealtyTrac Inc

"Despite a 29 percent decrease in new foreclosures from the first
quarter to the fourth quarter, Florida documented the nation's highest
foreclosure rate and accounted for more than 14 percent of the nation's
new foreclosures in 2005. The state reported 121,843 properties
entering some stage of foreclosure -- 1.67 percent of the state's
households."

I think we're going to start seeing foreclosures increase in the state, especially in the condo area, as we go into the year and as pre-construction sale condos come on line. Upscale areas will not see many foreclosures unless their owners are too deep into real estate investing. Even then, there are vulture capitalists waiting in the wings to "relieve" these folks of their burden so they won't have to suffer the indignities of going into foreclosure--provided the vulture covets their property and the price is low enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[Jellyfish]

My guess is that a lot of these properties now going to auction are "investulators" trying to dump the properties into a softening market. IMO there will be more and more such auctions coming in the next few months to a year--the condo auctions will be especially interesting

Not to be a vulture, but I hope so. We have been waiting to buy in SoWal for several years, not as investors but to vacation and then live there eventually. I was not about to jump into the frenzy over the past few summers....

 

[SHELLY]

Not to be a vulture, but I hope so. We have been waiting to buy in SoWal for several years, not as investors but to vacation and then live there eventually. I was not about to jump into the frenzy over the past few summers....

Your patience will pay off as the pendulum swings your way. And if you're a cash buyer...you're golden!