I lost at an auction and that felt good

So today I bid for the first time in an auction. Other times I just went to the auction to observe. Unfortunately, those other times, there wasn't much bidding going on. Either there was only one person with a slight interest in the property or there wasn't anyone bidding. So that skewed my view a bit when I got ready for today's live auction.

Today's auction was in a much better/more promising neighborhood than the others. There was a crowd and 3 bidders for a very small house on a nice street. I thought the lack of decent square footage would scare away others, but no. It was small and unique, in a great location.

Days before the auction, I had decided on two prices in my head. What I was willing to buy it at if it was a dump and the price I'd be willing to buy it if it wasn't a dump. We never even touched the dump price, it jump from the opening bid to the highest price where I was willing to go.

And for about 3-6 seconds there was a chance I was going to own that house. Then the thought "Crap I'm going to have to buy this house." popped into my head. Thinking which accounts the money would come from to cover the purchase price since I could have closed within a day or so. Repair etc would come from loan money. Lucky me, another bidder bid up the price. Until it went about 4K above my limit. But once it went 1K above my limit I stopped caring as much.

That tiny moment of fear told me that I might not be ready yet. I still have to sell off some stocks and save up so that I have a nice reserve in place. Maybe I should just step away for a few months.

I'm also proud that I didn't blow past my limit. I've done that before at other auctions (stuff not real estate). I can get competitive and will let go of caution. I could have gone higher but, for the square footage there were non-auction MLS properties nearby that appear to be better deals.

The house was a unique and good deal for someone who could do something with the space. But it wasn't a good deal for me at this time. So with that thought I walked away content, without a house. And I took that contentment back to the bank where I immediately deposited the cashiers check I had for the auction.