Selling Homes at Auction Helps Homeowners Unload Properties Quickly

Home auctions aren't just for fat-pocketed investors scooping up decrepit foreclosures that banks are desperate to get off their books. At home auctions, you also can find perfectly fine homes in good condition that never fell into foreclosure. The sellers of these houses are the homeowners themselves, and the buyers are usually everyday people looking for a dream home.

Homeowners trying to avoid the long slog of listing their homes for sale, hosting open houses and waiting for an interested buyer to make an offer are increasingly turning to auctions to sell them quickly, The Tennessean newspaper reported. Most of these everyday homeowners auctioning off their houses are looking to downsize in retirement. The newspaper spoke to one of them, John Chaffin, who sold his home at auction when he decided to downsize. He said it sold in less than an hour.

"You don't have to be bothered by people for three or four months. They show up at one time, and you get just as much or more than if you put it on the market," he said. Tommy Anderson, a Realtor with Prudential Woodmont Realty who sold Chaffin's home at auction, said that he sees homeowners putting homes across Tennessee up for auction, "from $10,000 investment houses to $2 million luxury properties."

There are all kinds of home auction houses that include listings for homeowner-occupied homes as well as foreclosures: Try RealtyBid.com, Auction.com and WilliamsAuction.com. Buyers, understand that all auctions require some amount of cash upfront to secure your bid. But many auction sales will offer a financing option, so that you can put in a bid and get a mortgage to cover the rest of the cost. One note of caution to sellers auctioning off their homes: Though it's not always the case, selling at auction often means accepting an offer that's lower than market value.