Real Estate Auctions
How to Locate Real Estate Auctions
By Buyincomeproperty.com
Nov 3, 2005, 17:49

There are several ways to locate real estate auctions. If you are looking to buy real estate in a particular town, start there with the local newspaper.

Read the newspaper’s classified section, looking under subheads such as “Auctions,” “Real Estate,” or “Land or Houses or Sale.” Don’t expect to phone the newspaper to ask them if they’ve had any real estate auctions listed in the last month or two. Newspapers work on tight deadlines and won’t likely have time to address your question. Make time to stop in to flip through their archives. Most papers keep issues for several months – even years—back. Or, stop at the local library to read through the newspapers filed there.

The newspaper can be a valuable resource for you if you are not from the community in which you hope to purchase property through a real estate auction. Does the paper report a good, local economy? Does it picture a close knit community that works together well to improve playgrounds, schools, old downtown districts? You can learn a lot about a town through the pages of its newspaper, even if you’ve never been to that town before.

Another stop as you’re searching for real estate auctions is the real estate agent. Stop at all the agencies in town. A phone call would even be appropriate in this case.  If the agents cannot tell you of any upcoming real estate auctions, they can probably direct you to some real estate auction businesses. If they don’t know of any upcoming real estate auctions, leave your name and number and ask them to call you if they hear of any.

Try the phone directory’s business pages. Look under the categories “Real Estate,” “Auctions,” or “Real Estate Auctions.”  If the community in which you hope to buy through a real estate auction is a decent size, it might have several auction businesses listed.

There’s always the Internet. Use your favorite search engine to type in the words “Real Estate Auction” or “Real Estate Auction” followed by the city in which you hope to buy.

If you haven’t searched online for real estate auctions yet, you’ll be amazed by how many responses will turn up.

As you begin your search for real estate auctions, you may find that you’re not so dead set on a real estate auction after all. Maybe you will run across a listing in the newspaper or through a local real estate agent with a price similar to what you were willing to spend at a real estate auction.

If you are truly interested in the real estate auction, you’re certain to find one that sparks an interest. Before you get involved in a real estate auction, do a little background work. Will you need to submit a sealed bit or will the property actually be on the auction block? How much money will you need to put down if you win the bid at the real estate auction? Find out what rules apply if this is your first real estate auction. If you consider yourself a real estate auction pro, don’t forget that rules and regulations sometimes change from community to community. Make sure you know what’s expected of you at this particular real estate auction.