The Auction
Forty eight I shouted when the clerk
at the Sheriff office opened the bid on this condo. Forty eight is short for
forty eight thousand dollars.
Friday I went to the Sheriff real
estate auction to try to help my nephew buy this condo. It was appraised at
$72,000 and the opening minimum bid was $48,000. My nephew and I decided early
on not to go over $55,000.
Without seeing the inside of the
property and just relying on peeking through the widows (if you can), you have
to be careful and cover your bases when you buy a property at a Sheriff auction.
You need to factor in unexpected problems (like a damaged air conditioning unit
or dysfunctional water heater. Some owners, when they lose their property, they
leave and take with them anything they can; refrigerator, dishwasher,
microwave, light fixtures; etc. Sometimes they will take even the copper pipes.
“Forty eight one ($48,100),” a man
in the back of the packed room shouted.
“Forty eight one, do I have a higher
bid” the clerk repeated.
“Forty eight two” I announced.
Every time a bid is made the clerk
repeated it and asked for a higher bid.
“Forty eight three,” a man in the
back barked. I couldn’t tell if it was the same man.
“Forty eight four,” I cried.
“Forty eight five,” a voice from the
back.
“Forty eight six,” I insisted.
“Forty eight nine,” a man in the
back shouted.
“Forty nine thousand,” I announced
The clerk got fed up with us going
by one hundred increase every time we bid and sternly she directed us to go by
$1,000 increase.
“Fifty (meaning fifty thousand),” he
said.
“Fifty one (This was not $50,100 as
it was understood in the first round, it was $51,000),” I decided.
“Fifty two,” was announced in the
back.
I went up to fifty three thousand.
“Fifty four thousands,” the same
voice announced.
I announced our upper limit: “Fifty
five thousands.”
The man in the back went up to fifty
six thousands. The clerk said, after asking for a higher bid: “Fifty six thousands
going once, fifty six thousand going twice,” pause.
In a real estate auction or in any
auction for that matter, your adrenaline goes high up and can prevent you from
stopping at the right time and you will end up getting a bad deal. Let me just add one more thousand. Thankfully
my nephew was not with me and I controlled my desire to just go up a thousand
dollars one more time.
“Sold, Fifty six thousands, please come
forward,” the clerk nodded to the buyer in the back. A man, the buyer, and a
representative of the bank, hurried at the same time to the clerks’ table to do
the necessary paperwork.
I folded my papers and stood up to
leave when I heard the clerk announcing the rebidding of the same condo. Did
I really hear that? This does not happen that often. Apparently that buyer
thought all along that he was bidding on a different property.
“Do I have an opening bid of forty eight
thousand?” the clerk announced.
“Forty eight thousands.” I gladly
said.
“I have an opening bid of forty eight
thousand, do I have a higher bid?
Silence. I started to get excited.
“I have an opening bid of forty eight
thousand, do I have a higher bid?
Silence. I was excited now.
“Forty eight thousand going once.”
Silence. More excited.
“Forty eight thousand going twice.”
Silence. Extremely excited. My heart
beats went up to 120.
“Sold. Forty eight thousand. Please
come forward.”
Had this confused buyer stopped at
$54,000, we would’ve paid for this condo $55,000. But we only paid $48,000. Clearly in those few
minutes my nephew saved $7,000.
Be mindful of almighty God and He
will show you a way out of distress and He will provide for you in a manner
beyond all expectation.
