The rules, traditions and customs at every auction tend to differ. In this video we discuss a few of the rules you’ll need to pay close attention to.
Transcript:
Hi there! Casey Denman here with TheTaxSaleAcademy.com. In this video, we’re talking about tax sale auction rules. Now, I’ve been to hundreds and hundreds of auctions across our beautiful country, and I can tell you this – all auctions are just a little bit different. Each county has their own customs, their own traditions they like to go by.
Now, before we start talking about these customs, these traditions, let’s first talk about what we know. State statutes in just about every state where you have tax foreclosure processes require certain things to happen. Now, some states are very detailed and some states are kind of more general. We’re talking about things such as the foreclosure process. They’ll lay it out from A to Z more or less. The opening bid amounts in some states are dictated by these state statutes.
Additionally, some states would go even further and they’ll say, “If you buy a piece of property at a tax sale auction, the county has to record your deed within 20 days or within 30 days.” Some states are very, very detailed and some are just a little bit more general. Now, if it’s not explicitly laid out in the state statutes, it can be different from county to county.
Now before you attend these auctions, what you need to do is you need to get a copy of the rules. Read through these rules. Once you get to the auction, you need to listen to the auctioneer as they’re explaining these rules. And a few things you need to either look for beforehand or listen for at the auction is this right here.
The first thing is registration. When do you need to register? Do you even need to register? Now, some auctions will require you to register many days or often weeks ahead of time. You don’t want to show up at the auction and you’re supposed to register two weeks ago because then you just wasted a lot of time and you’re going to miss out on that auction.
Another thing you need to look out for is how do you bid. Rules of auctions are different. Some auctions like the old fashioned. You pull your ear or something to bid. Other auctions, you’re going to shout your bid out. Other auctions, you’ll raise your bidder card or your hand. They vary from auction to auction.
The last thing you want to do is be unaware of how you’re supposed to bid. Everybody else is raising their bidder card and you’re sitting there yanking on your ear and wondering why you’re not winning any properties. That’s because you don’t know how to bid. So that’s something you got to pay attention to.
Another one is the absentee bidding. Do they allow absentee bidding? If they don’t allow absentee bidding, whether it’s through the Internet, maybe like a hybrid type absentee or through an old fashioned paper absentee bid, if you can’t bid absentee, then you’re going to have to go to the auction. That is something else you have to worry about.
Now, another thing that a lot of people kind of overlook sometimes is the bid increments. They think you bid in one cent increments. You go from $100 to $100.01. I’m going to tell you right now I’m very, very glad that auctioneers don’t do this in most places because it would take forever to go through these auctions. So pay attention to bid increments. Sometimes, they’ll go from $100 to $150 to $200. Sometimes, they’ll go in $100 increments. Sometimes, they’ll even go in $500 increments. So pay attention and listen to the rules as they’re explaining how to bid.
Another thing is the deposit information. Some auctions, you’re expected to pay the entire balance right then and right there within five minutes of that piece of property being sold. In other auctions, they just want 100 bucks down, and you pay the rest within 14 days or 21 days. Some auctions will give you 24 hours. These can vary from county to county and they certainly vary from state to state. That’s something you have to pay attention to.
Another one is the payment information. Do they want all cash? Do they want cashier’s checks? If they want a cashier’s check, who’s it made out to? Will they accept money order? Will they accept credit cards? Will they accept personal checks, business checks? These are all things you need to concern yourself with.
Another one is breaks. If an auction is expected to last 10 or 12 hours, do they have a lunch break? Do they have snack breaks? Do they have restroom breaks? When are you expected to eat? Maybe you should bring lunch with you. Pack a lunch to go to some of these tax sale auctions. Because believe me, from personal experience, the last thing you want to do is show up to an auction at 8 o’clock that morning, not leave because you don’t want to miss on any pieces of property and not eat a single thing until 8 o’clock that night. Been there, done that, and you don’t want to do it.
And the last thing you look for is any special requirements. Some counties, if there’s a piece of property that has a large building, for instance, on it and it needs to be demolished, they might require you to put a bond up, stating that you’re willing to demolish that piece of property. Other counties will want your occupation. They’re going to want phone numbers, social security numbers. Sometimes, they have these special requirements that each county will go by.
So these are a few things you need to look for when it comes to tax sale auction rules. Obviously, I can’t give you the complete list because there’s a lot of things and a lot of variations from auction to auction. But I certainly hope this has kind of enlightened you for the rules of different tax sale auctions.
And also if you’ve enjoyed this video, if you’d like to see additional videos very similar to this one, head on over to my website at TaxSaleAcademy.com, which you can do by clicking the blue link right here next to my head. Again, it will take you to TaxSaleAcademy.com. And once you get there, consider downloading your free copy of my e-book, The Tax Sale Investing Blueprint, and you’ll be on your way to a very successful tax sale investing career.
Take care, folks! Bye-bye.