Auction.comReviews 434

Hello, I registered to bid on item #7425 on Jun 14, but never bid on said property. I registered simply so that I could see more information about the property.
After checking my email today it says that I am the winning bidder! After going through my emails it also stated that I put in a proxy bid of $200,000 at the time of registration, which I did not.
Even if let's say I hypothetically did, the auction ended with a winning bid of $235,000, but it still says that I am the winner. I called customer support and they claimed my proxy bid was $280,000. Once again, I never bid on this property or any other properties, but I am trying to make this easy on the poor customer support people by providing them with a screenshot of the email I received in regards to my proxy bid, which I hope is enough to void any obligations they may believe I have.
This situation has been incredibly stressful for me and I hope for everyone's sake it can be handled promptly and properly, but regardless, this company obviously has big problems. Even if you read through the reviews on this site, all of the 5 star reviews don't sound like they are from real buyers, but by people being paid to write a positive review.
On top of all of this, I was telling my landlord today about this crazy thing I am going through with this property I never bid on and he says that he was bidding on that property! By looking him up auction.com would realize he owns a bunch of property, so my theory is that auction.com was using my account to shill bid and get my landlord to pay more, but my landlord stopped bidding too soon and therefore the property went to the account they were using. Obviously that is all speculating, but the pieces seem to fit.
If they were an honest company then they would show everyone that is bidding and their bids, just as ebay does. For example; J*********x bid $205,000 etc.
Do not engage with this company in any way!

We have been buying foreclosures for years. We deal with 5 companies. You guys are the only one in which we can sit here an hour before auction, and still not know if it is cleared or not? What? Leave go get cashiers checks, drive 30 minutes to auction site. Then site updates and says auction cancelled. What? Really? Sucks for loyal buyers, complete waste of time. Just a thought, if the property is not clear 6 hours before the auction, cancel it. It would save the buyers a ton of time. Otherwise we just stay frustrated.

I was speaking with Angela, who certainly was quite patient with me, while answering my many questions. As a first time bid winner, I had multiple questions and such and Angela handled it very well. She provided me with a number that I did not see/have before to be able to chat with someone on the phone, for further instruction & answers. The chat feature is very convenient for anyone who is looking for a quick response but may not be able to talk on the phone at the time.

They disclose the bi bidding in several places so if you don't know about it your not paying enough attention to the website. I don't like it but at least they inform about it. The way they do business is not good for the buyer but they don't work for the buyer. I make a low offer on their listing and forget about it. If the auction was absolute or they would disclose the reserve price I would invest more time completing due diligence and my offer would be higher. It's just not worth it to go through all that with all the games they play. I don't understand why the minimums are often higher than market, especially with the unknown risks you are taking. I recently bought an identical unit they had listed, but in perfect shape and nicely furnished for $4,000 less than their minimum on a unit in poor shape with no furnishings and all the other extra expenses they charge and risky unknown issues that a buyer would possibly have to deal with after the purchase. WHO WOULD BUY THAT?

She was candid and gave me a lot of helpful advice & info. You know what would help? A facebook support group where people could ask questions, share horror stories & share good experiences. A place where people could learn from others mistakes & get words of wisdom by seasoned pros. If I had people to chat with about all that I would feel a lot more comfortable bidding for the first time. You'd probably get a lot more people to do this. And, I think it's a lot better for neighborhoods when someone who's going to occupy the property wins the auction rather than professional investors wanting rental properties. On Facebook I'm Tsura Nuri

Yes you do bid against auction.com sometimes, and this is disclosed in there info on their page. You probably won't be able to view the house with an "access code" from a realtor so there's that. If you win the bid make sure you read the closing cost allocation rider in your purchase agreement very carefully because you will be paying for closing cost and mine were over $2000. I would just make sure you bid $3000 less than you want the total cost to be. Don't overbid. There is always another house for sell. Maybe the one you lost the bid on a week earlier. Be patient. It can be a good experience and you can get a good deal, but you're not winning the lottery, you're buying real estate. I found everyone I talked to very nice, though I was kind of ignorant and blindsided by the closing cost. I wouldn't personally bid on occupied properties, but if you're ready for possible problems getting people out of the property, good luck. Mine was vacant.

The first auction I registered for went smoothly and my deposit was released immediately after the auction ended but this time I registered and the auction ended I wasn't a winner so my deposit should have been released immediately after the end of the auction yet it's been over 24 hours and my money is still on hold I called and was told the money can't be released until the following sat but that's crap cause they released last time and it states on their website that the money is released as soon as the auction is over. I will never use this company again they bid against you but never tell you if it's a company bid or a real bidder in hopes that you'll keep blindly bidding it up and now they dont want to give up my deposit money.

I really wished that i would had read reviews before bidding. I had won an auction and done all the paper work. I had the wired the money and everything. Guess what? I paid for title insurance and the place had a lien on it. They tried to get me to sign it still. The woman that ran title search told me if i go ahead and sign it that they can come back and take the house from me because I didnt really own it because of the lien that was on the house. I would have lost around 60,000 and no home The home that was being sold with a lien is reposted so yes they know this. The home is located in Switzerland county Indiana.

So I decided to try this site, paid the $2500. 00 deposit and posted a bid. I didn't win, but did notice that the site bid against me, not mad at them for the business. Two days later, I called at 8:30am to have my deposit returned and this is where I lost any interest with this site. Their auto message clearly states that hours are 6:00am- 5:00pm Mon-Fri. Why was it telling me that it's closed? Also, why route your customers through endless string of auto messages? You are dealing with peoples hard earned funds, and most don't want to talk to a computer, just basic knowledge. Basic mistake for developing companies to make, I am sure other sites are coming up that provide better service and strip you of customers. If you want to last long in capitalistic America, you should understand the meaning of customer service and use less auto messaging. AJ Thomas, the VP of people and Culture should fix this, people and culture not machine and culture. Cost cutting impacts internal ops not customers.

But you absolutely CAN buy a $200,000 house for $120,000 cash on Auction.com. Auction.com is great. The site sells REOs online using exactly the same M. O. you see at sheriff's sales on your local courthouse's steps: and, like auctions on your local courthouse steps, (...) for any given property there may be 2 actual, serious bidders and about 20 poor saps who showed up honestly thinking the bank was going to sell a house for which it's $120,000 in the red to some poor JimBob for what was advertised as the $30,000 'minimum bid' (snort) price. It won't happen. Not on Auction.com, not anywhere.

YES, fools, Auction.com WILL bid on behalf of the bank or sellers until the 'reserve' price is met. If you think that spells 'scam,' then you need to step out of the game and go back to buying scratch-offs as a long-term financial investment. Auction.com will NOT automatically sell a property to the highest bidder if the highest bid is at a loss to the seller and under the reserve price; this isn't La-La Land. However, the seller might agree to any REASONABLE bid, even if it's under the reserve. You can get absolutely incredible deals here, just don't be thinking a seller is obligated to respond to your ridiculous low-ball bid. All the negative reviews here seem to be from amateurs who really believed they were going to be handed something for nothing. For anyone who is serious about investing in REOs and is ready to throw out the funds required for such an undertaking, Auction.com is an absolute godsend.