Auction.com

Won a home on auction.com. The address is ******* YALAHA RD
Yalaha, Florida *******.

Got the contract and it's not bank owned as they advertise, the seller is an LLC private investor. I decided to dig a little deeper and they seem to bid on their own homes which is considered shill bidding which is illegal in all states. An example in section 817.41 talks about it shall be unlawful for any person to advertise in any way or by any medium whatsoever, any sale as "wholesale sale" in our case its "Bank owned" which is the "whole sale" equivalent in the real estate market, or terms of similar purport designed and intended for obtaining money or property under false pretenses. This law is also simular to California law.

When I emailed the ceo of the company he didn't respond he sent his dogs to reply to me of which were unprofessional, he then blocked me and suspended my auction.com account because I was questioning their multiple misleading practices.

So here is a summary of auction.com
1. They shill bid which means they bid on their own properties

2. Non of their homes are owned by banks or foreclosure, most are private investor looking to make quick buck. The home we purchased had foundation problems and termites, the seller and agent and broker knew about it but still relisted it. Ther were multiple bids prior to me winning the auction and I see its impossible to have been real bidders cause if they were they would have reached out to the 2nd highest bidder instead they relksted the property without notifying bidders it has foundation and termites as required by law.
3.

Contact your attorney General and file an sec report asap if you been neglected by this company. This is unacceptable.

I bid on a property that they claimed was worth about $234K, and Zillow said it was worth about $130K. Getting it for $70K seemed like dream come true. After winning I wanted to see in person (about 3 hour drive), but was told I would not be able to see until after closing. After many attempts to gain access, I went to view exterior. The building was rotting away, with the door sill riddled with wood rot, which spreads like the plague, and is worse than termites to a structure. So basically, the property was worth less than the land, because I will have to pay to have it demolished and removed. This is blatant fraud, and illegal in NJ to sell a property with known hidden problems. They claim they have never lived there, so do not know of problems, but the first thing the bank does after foreclosure is has an inspection report. The only legitimate auctions on the site are not bargains in any way, with reserves higher than you could have bought it through a realtor.

I had bid on another property, and was high bidder, but bank informed me they refuse my bid, and wanted $13K more for it. I went to see property, and the pictures they took were completely misleading. The house had numerous other building on property, and one, the other side was completely missing, from being rotted off. The second floor of main building leaned about 3 inches from front to back, over about 12 feet.

So basically Auction.com is in collusion with fraudulent bankers, and never believe any listing on Zillow without seeing with your own eyes. Zillow will outright lie, to get business from Auction.com.

One other issue with Zillow, is they sometimes leave listings on their site, that have not been available for several months.

I have not used auction.com but am considering it and have read through many of these negative reviews. Here's my attempt at separating what are real versus fake concerns.

But first I need to point out the obvious: the point of auction.com, like every other auction site, is to get the highest price possible for the seller. It is NOT to get you the best deal. If you get this backwards you will probably have a bad experience.

Common fake complaints:
They don't show the reserve: Think about this... what would your opening bid be if they did? The reserve amount of course. By not showing it there is a chance you will bid above the reserve right off the bat. Remember the main point is to help the seller, not you. BTW, eBay has been doing the same thing for years.

The site bids against you: This is one of the first things disclosed on the property's auction page. If you're bidding tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars without knowing how this works upfront, you're being very foolish bidding in the first place. This is the logical way to manage the reserve not being published. You may not like it, but it make sense.

Time added to the auction: Another common practice with online auctions. Remember the original point. Any auctioneer's goal (live or online) is to maximize sale price, not get you a great deal. Sites often have rules that say they will add x minutes after the last bid to solicit a higher bid. They want to keep the auction going as long as possible to keep the bidding going higher. If you're upset over this, you don't understand auctions.

Reserves too high/closing was a hassle: These are not the site's issues. You are most likely buying a REO (real estate owned) from a bank that has completed the foreclosure process on the property. It is a painful process. PERIOD. They are a pain in the neck to deal with. If you're trying to get a screaming deal by buying this way, the hassle factor is part of the price you pay.

Real complaints:
Poor customer service / rude agents: These could be absolutely true since no organization is perfect here. But also remember that these agents can be a reflection of the people writing the reviews. Think about it this way. The winning bidder calls the site's customer service because they're already frustrated that they can't get the deal completed. But the agent doesn't have any control over the bank or reo company to keep things moving. Everyone is going to end up frustrated in the scenario.

Hope this helps some of you to decide whether or not you want to try the site.

We tht it was a scam
Its not.
I had 2 wait 2 Months before closing, the seller kept pushing the date back, i started.to get worried, call e mail daliy the title company KEEP saying they waitin on seller

We got the house we wanted
End up. Payin all kind of fee'S. The house i won it for 51,150 at the end i paid 55,230
Any fee you will pay not the seller.
Then yu pay auction.com 2500 just for using their website.
I did the closing on tuesday this week
Get in the house
GUESS WHAT
HOUSE HAVE TERMITES!
Not that bad, but i had 2 Tear down a bed ROOM to get rid of bad wood.
How they process works It seem LIKE a scam then you have to wire money ( i dnt like that part). You see nobody face to face its all Emails.
Then when i went 2 the bank they Told me Dnt Do it.
SCAM
Then the day when i had 2 send 42.000
I WAS SOOOO NERVOUS.
BUT AUCTION. COM IS NOT A SCAM
ITS REAL
BUT ALL THE HOUSES IS ON THERE FOR A REASON.!
Some Need lot of work Some need little.
I tht i had my dream home but the dam Termites TURNed me off
But im still Blessed!

Some of these reviews are hilarious. My favorite is how auction.com apparently makes a lot of money off the deposit... i know for a fact they have never once charged my credit card the $2500 fee. They put a pending $2500 charge on my Amex, but it never goes through. So there is NO way for them to have money in their account making interest. They do this to make sure the people bidding actually have money and are serious about bidding, not because they make magical interest from non-existing charged. Like who really believes those dumb posts?

I have purchased 5 properties via auction.com this year already. Some thoughts:

1 - YES, they use fake automatic bidding they call "Counter Bid". Hell, they literally state the fact on auctions. So why would anyone be shocked at this? If you are posting a review saying its shady, maybe look in the mirror and realize, you are not intelligent enough to read and should stay off the internet.

2 - Auction.com is a middle man. They are not bank, title holder, escrow company or anything else. They provide a marketplace to buy foreclosed homes from banks, nothing else. Banks suck. Banks are slow. Banks don't care about your timeline, they care about their internal process. If you want to deal with houses owned by people and have a more smooth process, check you local MLS and work with an agent. Buying from banks SUCKSSSS, but there is so much more upside if you are willing to do the work.

3 - Auction.com does not force you to bid. Figure out what you think the value of the house is, and don't bid above it. The reviews that say the reserve is too high, well again, the banks are dumb and slow. The house will not sell and it will just continue to be listed and relisted until they find a dumb buyer or they lower their reserve. This is NOT auction.com's fault. They do not own the house.

I only gave a 4 star because I am sure auction.com can do a better job communicating during the process, as needed. They also could do a better job providing access to homes if unoccupied. And finally, they will call you and try and engage with you to encourage bidding. I dont need this call. I respond the same way every time, I will bid what I think its worth and if the bank has a reserve higher than that, they should either a) hope for a stupid uniformed buyer to come along or b) expect to not sell the property and continue to have holding costs until they wise up and lower their reserve.

Good luck house hunting!