How to be Successful at St. Louis Real Estate Auctions
St. Louis real estate auctions have a history of being competitive. With some even moving to online platforms, technology has opened up the pool of potential bidders. To stay ahead of the competition, here is how to bid and win at St. Louis real estate auctions.
Set Limits Ahead of Time
It’s dangerous to head to St. Louis real estate auctions and not know how much you should be spending. It often results in bidding on properties you can’t afford and landing yourself in a mess of debt. Winning a property isn’t a win if you go into major debt while doing it.
Before you go to St. Louis real estate auctions, set a hard limit for your budget. What types of properties should you be looking for? What is the maximum amount that you can spend? These questions need to be answered before you get going.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I going to live in this property or rent it out as an investment property?
- If looking for a rental property, what kind of rents can you expect?
- What do the comps in the area look like?
- How much money will it cost to renovate or repair your new property?
You may not be able to answer the last one, but you should think about how much you’ll be willing to spend on repairs.
Check Out the Properties
St. Louis real estate auctions’ properties are available ahead of time, so go and check out the properties for yourself. Look at the outdoor spaces and gauge how much you’ll need to spend on landscaping. If you can, take a tour of the home and make an estimate as to how much you’ll need to spend on a renovation. Don’t be conservative with your estimate.
If you can’t get into the property, look in the windows and try to see what you can. If the auctioneer has put any records or document online, make sure you go through these.
Get Your Money in Order
St. Louis real estate auctions don’t give you the time to get your funds in order. You need to be financially ready to go when you make your first bid. Whether you’re paying in cash or getting a loan, you need to do this beforehand.
Send In a Good Deal
With traditional sales, you have to negotiate contingencies and other factors, but at St. Louis real estate auctions, what you see if what you get. With auctions, the seller will set the terms and you need to submit a bid that gets close to those terms or – in some cases – goes over those terms. You need to give your seller the best deal possible so he or she will choose your bid over the others.
Remember, you shouldn’t bid more than the property is worth. It’s not a good investment for you, and you may end up in debt because of it.