5th & Madison Auction: Beware the Unpublished Reserve Price
The 5th and Madison auction site is up.
If you want to skip registration here is the price list for the 18 units.
I’ve spoken to a few folks who are pretty excited about the auction because of the low starting bids. However, if you read the fine print you want to beware the unpublished reserve price. From their fine print:
All homes have an unpublished reserve price (Unpublished Reserve Price) which means that the seller has established an unpublished minimum selling price. The Starting Bid is not the Unpublished Reserve Price. In order to become the winning bidder of a home, a bidder must have the highest bid and meet or exceed the Unpublished Reserve Price. The highest bid is subject to acceptance by the seller (see “Subject to Confirmation†section below). With respect to a high bid less than the seller’s reserve, the high bid, resulting purchase agreement/offer are subject to the seller’s acceptance, counter-offer or rejection during the auction, in the contract room, and/or within 5 days following the auction.
So yes, a $195k starting bid for a 800 square foot 17th floor unit is likely too good to be true.
Other details to note:
- 18 units from 808 square feet up to 1958 square feet
- Starting bigs from $195k
- Auction day is March 28th. Starts at 1pm, be there by noon.
- They’ll have practice auctions on March 21st
- Registration deadline is March 25th, though you can register day of, but then you’re limited to only one unit
- Auction office is open from 10 am to 5 pm daily
- $5,000 deposit
- Buyers who close within 45 days with the preferred lender will get a $5,000 credit towards closing costs
- FHA financing available
- If you bring an agent they’ll get 2%
