Broward Finally Starts Online Foreclosed Home Auctions

Broward County is finally starting its online foreclosed home auctions. As of last week, over 1,000 people had already registered to participate in the auctions. Registration is free, but the amount of $60 will be collected from every winning bidder to help cover the costs of running the online auctions.

Prospective bidders must visit broward.realforeclose.com and register. Before the auctions, bidders are required to deposit 5 percent of their estimated maximum bid for every property they are planning to bid on.

The website is run by RealAuction.com, the firm that also conducts the online foreclosure auctions of 12 other Florida counties. Before Broward started its online auctions, RealAuction.com launched the online auctions of Miami-Dade County.

According to Lloyd McClendon, chief executive of RealAuction.com, his firm made some changes to the Broward online auction home page and system after a number of novice bidders at the Miami-Dade website complained they mistakenly made bids on condominium liens and not on the condo properties.

McClendon said his staff increased warnings on the Broward website and continued to advertise the availability of tips and trainings on how to participate successfully in foreclosed home auctions. McClendon insisted the need for prospective bidders to make thorough research on the repossession properties being auctioned off before the auction dates.

He added that with plenty of freely available materials online about the public auctions and plenty of warnings and tips on the website, novice bidders should not blame the auctioneers or the county if they do not like the results of their participation.

For other novice bidders, however, the online auctions are a great opportunity to learn without being embarrassed, pressured or bullied by veteran bidders. For experienced bidders, the online auctions may eliminate some of the advantages they wield at courthouse auctions, but they also recognize the time savings they gain from online auctions. Being veterans, they can still use their expertise in winning the properties they are targeting.

According to Howard Forman, clerk of courts for Broward County, over 5,300 properties are being auctioned off on the first day and another 2,000 will be scheduled soon. He said that the online system can sell off 1,000 homes every week, more than twice the 420 units auctioned off at the courthouse every week over the past several months.

All in all, the Broward County online foreclosed home auctions are expected to cut auction costs and to enable the county to cope with the loss of 150 courthouse employees in 2009 due to budget cuts.

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