I did hear about this house, but did not view it. Although it has a good size lot and is in a nice area (Del Mar Country Club), it is less than 1/2 the size I am looking for and not my style. I did look at a house just up the street on the golf course, so know the area is quite nice.

I don’t recall what I heard about this house. It was something interesting, but I won’t try to guess what it was as I might get it wrong.

Seller does not have to accept an auction bid, so setting the starting bid so low does not tell you much. It is a way to test the market though. Up here in the bay area, a house recently went on auction in Los Altos. It was a 5br 3,800 sf home on a 15k sf lot. Original listing was $2.6 million. Problem is that it is on a busy street. While nice homes on nice streets are still selling for asking in that area, any home that is on a busy street or needs updating is sitting longer and not selling for asking. It went on auction and the highest bid was $2.2 million. Seller did not accept it and it went back on the market. It recently sold for that exact same amount, $2.2 million.

One thing I like about being on the market so long as a buyer, is that I have gotten to see what homes I viewed sold for and how long they were on the market. I have learned so much, every day it makes me a more informed buyer and better tuned into appropriate pricing. I figure after another year of this, I should be ready to buy. I don’t plan on writing any new offers before the spring or summer of 2008. But I am looking at the market every day and checking in with my agent every two weeks or so.