I’m pretty sure this auction will have the same results as the Bressi auction held a few months back. There will be bids on each property, but the bids will not meet the reserve. In the Bressi aution there were bids that went as high as 10% below MLS listings and the investors (owners) did not sell.
I believe that there may be a slight discount, but not more then a couple %. Im sure that there have been lowball offers on many of these homes and the REO’s did not sell them then. This is just another way to get buyers to look at these homes. If you bid 450K on a home listed on MLS for 500k, you will only save 25K after the 5% auction commission. I think eventually as REO inventory goes up, you will see more reasonable prices(desperation). This auction may help in future price reductions, but at this point prices will remain firm and near MLS listed price.