Helpful Site Features

Alerts are available to bidders immediately upon login. The Bidder Alert window will notify you of any emails that have been sent to you by RealtyBid.com, including outbid notices, high bid confirmations, contract questionnaires and contract documents. All of these specific emails are retrievable from your Alert window. While you will still receive emails from Realtybid.com through your personal email system, you can now also utilize the Alert window to retrieve email notifications and any documents that are linked within those emails.

To bid on this site, there are two options. You can either bid from each property's Bid Page or you can bid from your My Properties page. My Properties is a convenient location where you, the bidder, can monitor properties of interest to you and properties on which you have already bid. This feature allows you to view and bid on your properties of interest. If you are bidding on multiple properties, use of the My Properties page is a must (Investors should also take advantage of the site's BidAssist™ feature. See the information below).
My Properties is the simplest way to watch and bid on multiple properties. If you are only bidding on one property, you would probably want to bid directly from that property's Bid Page. Any property submitted by a bidder to My Properties will be stored for seven days after the conclusion of an event. This provides you the option to go back and review all bids placed on your properties of interest for up to a week after each auction event has ended. There is also a link on the bottom of the My Properties page that will take you to your My Properties history, allowing you to view all activity on each property for up to six months after the conclusion of any auction event.

BidAssist™ is an automated bid process designed to assist with bidding during an auction even when you are away from your computer. To use BidAssist™, determine the top price you're willing to pay for a particular property. When submitting your bid, you enter the maximum amount you'd be willing to pay into the BidAssist™ box. The BidAssist™ system then compares your bid to those of the other bidders. The BidAssist™ system places bids on your behalf, using only as much of your bid as is necessary to maintain your high bid position. BidAssist™ only bids one bid increment at a time against an opposing bidder and will bid up to your maximum amount.

If you are a property’s high bidder and are logged in, you will have the opportunity to “update” your BidAssist. When applicable, the “Update BidAssist” button is available just below the “Place Bid” button on each Bid Page. Via "Update BidAssist," you can raise, lower or end your BidAssist. Please note that if you choose to end the use of BidAssist, our system will stop bidding for you but CANNOT delete bids that have already been made for you using your previously chosen BidAssist amount.

If the bidding for a property is moving rapidly and you try to place a bid that is lower than the current leading bid, but your BidAssist™ amount is higher than the leading bid, your bid will be taken at the next available bid increment above the current leading bid. For example, if the current leading bid is $100,000 and you place a bid of $99,000 with a BidAssist™ amount of $105,000, the computer will reject the $99,000 but will accept and place your bid at the next bid increment of $101,000 (assuming a bid increment of $1,000). You will then be protected up to your maximum Bid Assist™ amount of $105,000 against any other bidders.

BidAssist™ is extremely helpful if you must be away from your computer during the close of auction bidding. It is also useful if you are bidding on several properties and want to ensure all of your bids are placed properly during the close of the bidding. Occasionally, at the close of an event, a bidder may have difficulty placing his bid due to heavy bidder traffic or the slow connection speed of his computer or ISP.

BidAssist™ is used as a tiebreaker. For example, if two bidders end in a tie for a property, the bidder who placed the bid first through BidAssist™ will be declared the winner because the BidAssist™ was the first bid placed and has priority over the other bidder; however, if your BidAssist™ pushes another bidder to their maximum BidAssist™ amount, you will be required to top that bidder's amount by the next bid increment. The system will not allow you to just match another bidder's maximum bid, unless both BidAssist™ amounts are exactly the same. In this rare case only, the first BidAssist™ amount entered into the bidding system wins.

BidAssist™ is now active for the highest bidder after the auction bidding ends if that bidder has chosen to carry over BidAssist™ into the Post Auction phase. For many properties, if the property's reserve price is not met prior to the conclusion of bidding, a Post Auction/Negotiation period will ensue. Post Auction activity for the property can be monitored at that property's Bid Page under View Post Auction. It is the bidder's responsibility to monitor the activity on the website regarding Post Auction offers during that time. For the highest bidder at the conclusion of the bidding, the BidAssist™ feature will remain active and protect that bidder to his maximum amount even during the post auction period if he so chooses. This feature is only activated during the post auction period if, when he places his bid, the bidder checks the box to indicate that he wants his BidAssist™ to remain in effect during the Post Auction process. This required box reads:

"Would you like to carry your BidAssist into Post Auction negotiations if you are the High Bidder at the end of the auction and the reserve price has not been met?"

The owners of the properties on this site have assigned to each property an undisclosed minimum acceptable price, or a "reserve price." Until a property meets this reserve price, the owner has the right to accept or reject the offered bid price. The reserve prices are undisclosed and programmed into the site. Once the reserve price is met for a specific property, the property's Bid Page and the My Properties page will specify that the reserve has been met, indicating that the property's owner will more than likely accept the price.

For many of the properties auctioned on RealtyBid.com, if, at the end of the auction, the property's reserve price has not been met, the property enters into the Post Auction process, which allows bidders an opportunity to continue to make offers to purchase the property. It is important to note that although Post Auction properties often include a countdown (i.e.Up To 6 Days Left!, Up To 3 Days Left!, etc.), these countdowns are intended to explain the longest possible amount of time the property will remain on the website and available to receive Post Auction offers; the countdown clock is NO GUARANTEE that the property will remain on the site for that entire amount of time. Post Auction offers are presented to the seller daily, and a seller may elect to accept any offer at any time resulting in a deal being made with a bidder and the property being removed from the site.