COUNTS REAL ESTATE OF PANAMA CITY BEACH, BAY COUNTY, SOUTH WALTON COUNTY, AND 30A PROPERTIES

Do any of these slogans sound familiar? Have they stopped peaking your interest because you know there is always a “catch”? In real estate we have the same hoopla with the term “Auction” or “Absolute Auction”. There is always a catch, and here are just a few: The term “absolute auction” leads you to believe they will have to accept ANY offer. Not true. The name of the auction company may be “Absolute Auction”, but usually there is a minimum bid and properties that are auctioned as absolute mysteriously have multiple bidders. There may be only one property out of 20 being sold that does not have a minimum bid requirement. Read the small print, most of the time the add a 10% commission to the final bid, along with the buyer having to pay doc stamps and title insurance. This is a cost that the seller usually pays in a normal transaction. You may be required to pay with certified funds at the auction or pay a penalty to wait a day. There may be a plant or a straw man in the audience to insure a minimum bid is met. Occasionally a buyer has already made an offer to buy all the parcels for sale and the “act” of the auction is to establish a market price for valuation purposes. So, the whole sale may be a waste of time. Most properties I have witnessed sold at a real estate auction could have been found at an equal or lower price through a real estate agent. Not to mention legal issues and property conditions that surrounds an auction property.


Remember these words…….Caveat Emptor………let the buyer beware!