County real estate tax auction strategies

I’ve seen beginning bidders go to the county tax auction with one or two specific properties in mind for bidding. In most cases, they’ve driven by the house, maybe peeked inside, and have decided that it would make a good place to fix up to live in or rent out. They go to the auction, equipped with enough cash to pay for the minimum listed bid or maybe a bit more, and fully expect to walk away with the lien. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way.

That’s why you need a backup. Sure, if you’re looking to gain title to a house for living in or renting out, the auction is a good place to start. But keep in mind, there are a lot of other people going to the auction with the same thing in mind. And what’s even more important to realize is that there will be at least a handful of large investors there as well, with a lot more money than you, looking to snap up as many liens as they can get their hands on.

The odds are, if you go to the auction with only one or two properties in mind, you’re going to get outbid. And if you don’t have a backup list, then you’ll go home empty-handed and disappointed. Don’t get your heart set on any one property. If you can only afford to get one property, then come with a list of at least ten.

Here’s another reason you can’t afford to play favorites when bidding, and it’s not a good idea to wait it out until your favorite comes up on the block. The houses are auctioned off in numeric order. And at least here for the St. Joseph County tax auction, once the auction is over, it’s over. There is no chance to go back and re-bid on ones that didn’t get picked up. Let’s say for example, that your preferred house is way down on the list, and bidding won’t come up until near the end of the auction. You wait all day, your house comes up for auction, and you get outbid! Then what? You’ve already sat through most of the auction, and all of the others that you might have considered have already passed by. You go home empty.

Come to the auction with a list of several possibilities, and know ahead of time which order they will come up on the auction block. That way, you will be prepared, and are more likely to win at least one.