Auction.com

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!