Partition auction - private sale / experiences?

The auction of the favored house had not yet taken place. We found the owner or one of the heirs from the community of heirs, called him, and he definitely doesn’t want to sell, but the others in the community of heirs want the money that the property would bring. That’s why it is being auctioned (because he himself apparently can’t afford to “buy himself free” or buy out his siblings) and a purchase beforehand is out of the question.

How did it go? So do you mean how auctions basically work? You can basically just google the general process (security deposit, etc.). So here is my personal impression from the auctions I have experienced so far: In our search area (Hamburg + surrounding region), you can forget about hoping for “bargains.” In the end, it’s like the “normal” real estate market, only at the auction you get to see who bids how much and can be sure that it really is the price others are offering and not the price the owner/agent would have liked to get. Usually the highest bidder was at least 20% to 40% above the market value.

If you are interested in this kind of purchase, I can only recommend watching it more often before you bid yourself. However, especially now during Corona, it may well be that as an observer you won’t get a seat anymore, since they are very limited and those who seriously want to bid (who can show a security deposit check) have priority. Common sense: If you do bid, definitely set a limit beforehand and be aware that it really ends then. Especially in the last minutes before the end, the price rises in 1,000 € increments and you quickly lose restraint (what’s 1,000 € more on 700,000 €? :p)

Hi Franzbrot,
thank you very much for the detailed feedback and advice! My question was about how the topic has developed further with you. The bidding heir hardly has a chance to win - unless his siblings want an absolutely exaggerated price from him.
In some (or even all?) cities, the appraisal committees publish how the final bid price and the market value related to each other in the past year. Not for the specific auction, but broken down by under-/overbidding the market value (e.g. 5 auctions 50-70%, 3 auctions 70-85%, 8 between 85 and 100% etc.). That could give you an orientation. Usually, there are a lot in the lowest category and a lot between 20 and 30% above the MV.
Feel free to write later on how it turned out and if applicable how much over market value the place went for.
Greetings from Pröter