Residential Real Estate Broker · Bremerton, WA · Member since 2013 · 494 posts · 142 votes
To clarify - GSA is the General Services Administration, a branch of the gov't that buys property (residential property) for gov't use and then will sell it later at auction to recoup their expense (is this accurate? I read this "on the internet"). The auction site is gsaauctions.gov . I'm checking to see if this is legit.
Anyone used this before? Have experience buying a property this way? If so, do they get bid up high and how long does the process take?
Hi Brian - I ended up bidding on a GSA property. My experience was that it tied up my money and the property ended up getting bid up past market value. Plus, GSA did not follow a very strict auction format, they would extend the auction if it would help them get a higher price - not cool. The process just went on and on. When they eventually got a bid, others started bidding (because it was deemed safe?!?), and then GSA kept extended the bidding period (which is in their contract, btw). When the property bidding seemed to have stopped, they closed the bidding. Basically, GSA did what was in their best interest. It did not seem to be a true auction. Steph
I bought one from them. Basically what they did to you, they tried to do to me after I had won the auction. They told me the amount was not high enough and tried to extort me for more. I told them that since they could change the rules on me , I would do the same with them and I demanded my deposit back with interest and that I was not interested in wasting any more time and money with them and was under the assumption that it was an auction, and since I had won, they needed to honor our deal.
After much huffing and puffing and swearing to tell everyone I know not to buy houses from them that way, they gave in. The clue that I was dealing with incompetant people was when I won the bid, and then they started the process of evaluating what the home was worth, (BPO's appraisals, etc.) Would'nt common sense dictate that stuff should be done BEFORE the auction? At the end of the day, they were just trying to get top dollar from the property, I just wished they would have made that clearer before I sent them $10,000 for the right to bid. Probably won't play that game with them again. I did get a fair deal on a nice home though.
Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 744 votes
12y
GSA is looking for the government only and why not try to get as much as you can, and I am a sure ever property seller will try the same thing to get as much as they can.
Real Estate Investor · Milford, NE · Member since 2011 · 201 posts · 140 votes
12y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
GSA is looking for the government only and why not try to get as much as you can, and I am a sure ever property seller will try the same thing to get as much as they can.
Joe Gore
Absolutely.......I was glad they were working to save me as a taxpayer as much money as possible, but at the same time I needed to fight for my position too. I would have acted that way towards any seller that tried that.
What size and kind of markets have you folks been participating in GSA auctions? I am inclined to believe that some of these HAP homes being auctioned on the GSA website might end up being a deal in smaller towns with less investor activity.
My last one was bought in a small town about 25 miles outside of the city of Lincoln, NE. So while Lincoln is a decent market, this little town I was working in was not huge......I think I saw a total of 5 or 6 people that put $10,000 down to bid, if I remember right. This is not LA :)
Investor · College Park, MD · Member since 2014 · 79 posts · 28 votes
12y
I don't have experience with it but I do know some of the houses are owned by different sectors of the gov't. The one I looked at awhile ago was owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. You can pull up the tax records to see information about how long they've owned it. I chatted with the neighbors of one of the houses I liked about the history of it. They thought it was listed for $175k on but it never hit the actual market. If i remember correctly the gov't legally just has to list it SOMEWHERE and not on the open market like most houses. I do want a lighthouse one day ;) @Stephanie Dupuis how did it work out?