I went and read further about the auction. My first impression was to run away as fast as possible. I would encourage anyone interested in attending to very carefully read about the entire process, including your due diligence period, financing requirements, and contingencies.
sdr totally pegged this. I looked up many of the auction properties. Indeed EVERY ONE OF THEM is an REO.
Funny that these same lenders at the auction are there to provide financing to the auction winners right there on the spot. You can use an outside lender but you get no financing contingency. Imagine that!
I find it hilarious that some of these properties are still active on the MLS but of course the starting bid is substantially cheaper.
So if the property is on the MLS for 600k and the starting bid is 350k, why wouldn’t the lender try to sell the property for say 500k on the MLS?
