Be careful at the LIVE auctions
Went to a HUD live auction last night. I hadn't bought any HUDs since the early 90s because I thought they were being bid up by inexperienced owner occupants and investors. And at the time I was in Houston so there was plenty of other inventory.
Anyway of the 24 that had originally been on line, 7 had sold pre-auction. I was very interested in one, and mildly interested in 2 of them. After a good look at one of them the mildly became TOTALLY NON-INTERESTED.
Since I got the one that I was very interested in I just watched the rest to see where things went. I may have gone for the other mildly as it ended up going for about 55% of FMV as near as I could tell, but I usually don't do mobile homes.
Anyway, on to the other place. It was in ROUGH shape, although maybe not any rougher than the one I bought. But, it was in a neighborhood of rough places with a smattering of nice houses. The problem was that there were 4 or 5 other MLS listings within a few blocks that look like they'll be on the auction block next time around. After a quick look the agent and I shrugged and headed to dinner.
Anyway a couple of investors got excited about it and ended up bidding it up to $3500 OVER the MLS price. The agent figured that a good, cash offer could have bought it off the MLS, prior to auction for about $4K less than the MLS price. IOW they paid about $7.5K (about 25%) too much for this place. When investors pay too much, it makes it hard for all of us to get good deals!
Caution to all of you, caution to me too. Don't get caught up in the excitement of the moment and don't get GOTTADOADEALITIS. I've been guilty of the latter a couple of times. It is an expensive lesson to learn.
all cash
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