Zero Risk Real Estate: Creating Wealth Through Tax Liens and Tax Deeds

Online Auction Strategies

Online auctions can be convenient and fun to participate in, but there are some strategies you need to follow in order to make them successful. Here are some basic tips to help you with your online bidding.

• Make sure to register with the site, and use your special e-mail that you set up just for your auction communications.
• Do not use your real name, company name, or a geographic location as your codename for bidding on properties. Stay as anonymous as possible while bidding online.
• Try out practice auctions in advance to get the feel for how it works. SRI has a great sample online auction site (see the 101 online resource listings).
• Make sure you are aware of the correct time zone when bidding. You may think a bid ends at 3:00 pm, when it really ended at noon your time.
• Stay logged-in during the bidding process if it ends within a few hours. If you are kicked out, or logged off, you may not see any bid changes, and logging back in may cause you to miss a deadline.
• Make sure it’s a real tax sale auction, and only participate in online auctions that are designated and certified by the county as official. There are a lot of third-party sites that claim to be auctioning off tax foreclosed property, but you’re not buying what you think you are.
• Even on sites like Bid4Assets, be careful to be sure the listing is for a tax sale. They list many different types of properties, and it can be easy to get them confused.
• If possible, download the list of liens/properties ...