Tax Auction Etiquette for Investors

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Investors intending on attending their first tax auction should be aware of the etiquette of proper bidding and purchasing of property. You’ll notice before the auction starts its normal to see people mingling with each other and talking about the properties that will be coming up on the auction block. Try to position yourself where it will be easy for the auctioneer to see you when the auction does get started. This will be towards the center of the room or even right up front.

Bidders can get nervous and into a frenzy bidding on certain properties. It’s not unheard of for a bidder to accidentally start bidding against themselves or for a couple at an auction to start bidding against each other without realizing it. Its in your benefit to stay calm at the auction, even if you feel as if the auctioneer isn’t seeing you after your first bid or is ignoring you while more frenzied bidding goes on in another area of the room. Wait patiently until the pace slows down then catch the auctioneer’s eye with your paddle when he scans the room again.

Listen carefully for the auctioneer to say, ‘fair warning’ or ‘going’ because this means he or she is about to bring the gavel down and sell the property. Better get your paddle up quick if you intend to make a bid. Tax auctions can take a long time because there may be a lot of properties up for auction. It’s easy to get bored, and many people will leave before the auction is over. This isn’t so bad, except if you are one of the people who leave early you may end up losing out on the chance to pick up a property cheaply.

Most auctions will use numbered paddles for bidding on the properties. It makes it easier for the auctioneer to see the difference between someone bidding on a property and someone who is just waving at their friend across the room. Nevertheless try to limit your movements with the paddle. The auctioneer may mistake that for a bid. Also it’s good to maintain eye contact with the auctioneer when making a bid.

Know what you are bidding on. If you start bidding randomly in the hopes that you will get something good you could end up with a lot of property that you don’t want. The auctioneer isn’t going to like it if you decide to back out of paying for some properties you picked up, yet wanting to keep other properties that you decided that you liked.
Auctioneers will expect you to have the cash on hand to pay for the property an hour after auction ends. There are no extentions on the deadline and no partial payments. If you don’t have the money the property becomes available to other bidders at the after auction sale.

TED THOMAS