at an auctioneers web site, is “opening bid amount” an amount that the auctioneer wants as a starting bid or is it the amount that a potential buyers price to bid.
The opening bid is the first offer the auctioneer asks someone to bid. Nobody has offered that opening bid yet. The opening bid has no bearing at all on what the house will sell for. I have been to auctions before and most houses sell for pretty close to what they should sell for.
I have heard that people get great deals at auctions, but I think it is like winning in Las Vegas. Everybody knows somebody else that has done it. The problem with auctions is that they are designed to get the most possible for the item being auctioned. Not the least the most. If you will pay $50,000 for a house then of course you will pay $50,100 for it. If you will pay $50,100 for it then you can’t tell me you won’t pay $50,200 for it. That is what auctions are designed to do until you have paid $60,000 for it. Auctions do that by violating one of my rules. Never get emotional about any house you are going to buy until it is bought. Auctions get you emotional about the competition for the item. I am not a spectator. I either play or I leave. That is why I don’t watch spectator sports like football, or baseball. I play golf and will watch golf to pick up tips for when I play but I am not watching to “root” for Phil Michelson or Tiger Woods. When I am at an auction bidding I have to win, that is why I don’t do well at auctions. I did buy a 1,000 sqft house for $700 at an auction once, but that was a fluke.
The opening bid amount is just that: the price at which the auction house wants to begin selling the property for. And like bluemoon has already said, most auctions result in bringing the price of the property up to full as-is value. Lots of hype but few bargains, in my experience.
thank you Bluemoon and AJ.