Golf home lots to sell at online auction

        Included in our mailbox last week was a flyer from Auction.com touting an upcoming online auction of lots in some very familiar golf communities in the Carolinas. Coincidentally, stuck among lots in the Cliffs Communities, The Reserve at Lake Keowee, and Bear Lake Reserve near Sylva, NC, were a couple of properties just 1½ miles from our Connecticut home.

        I would never buy a golf property, no matter how cheap, without first inspecting it or having someone I trust do it for me. (And even then I would be nervous.) The bidding on a 3-acre lot at one of The Cliffs Communities

on Lake Keowee, for example, might be pegged to start at only $1,000 –- the lot had a previous value, according to Auction.com, of $275,000 -– but even if I were to grab it at the seemingly bargain basement price of $10,000, what if the property were on wetlands on which it would be expensive, or impossible, to build?

        The two lots across the street from each other near our home in Avon, CT, certainly looked wet to me, and it hadn’t even rained for a few days preceding my drive by. Both had deep depressions where the footprint of a house would go, and it looked soggy on the back halves of each lot; I considered walking through the property but I was by myself and had visions of those 1950s movies in which quicksand was a major player. No thanks.

        A sales executive we work with in the Lake Keowee area added a note of caution for anyone considering a lot purchase via auction.

“They might want to be cautious about any outstanding liens or back taxes that may come with any property auctioned like this,” Jimmy wrote us.  He added that a buyer would pay the $60,000 for the “Premier” golf club membership, just like for any other resale at The Reserve. Dues and association fees would kick in as well, after closing.

        I spoke with a representative of Auction.com about the upcoming online auction, which will be conducted from May 1 to May 4. I asked what kind of information, especially about the deed on a particular property, is supplied to potential buyers by the auction service.

        “The deed information or what kind of deed being offered,” the rep wrote me, “is located on the property detail page or can be found in the purchase agreement and/or the purchase agreement addendum also located on the property detail page.”

        I asked about title reports and other information. “Some sellers provide title reports/information,” according to the rep, “but we do not make any guarantees regarding the accuracy of those reports.”

        In other words, caveat emptor. You will find information about the May 1 auction at Auction.com/land.  If you would like to take a more conventional approach and meet with a professional real estate agent at any of these or other fine golf communities, please contact us.

Opening bids on golf home lots at Cliffs Keowee Vineyards and The Reserve at Lake Keowee (pictured) will start as low as $1,000 at auction.com May 1 online auction.