By Michael Jansta, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Auction.com
Have you come across a property on Auction.com that’s included in something called a “Bundle-and-Save” event? Or have you noticed a Bundle-and-Save event on the Auction Calendar? It’s more likely that you haven’t heard of this type of auction at all, but that’s not going to stop me from telling you how popular these auctions are with professional investors and institutional buyers.
To begin, let’s start with the fact that you don’t have to be a professional investor to buy a home in a Bundle-and-Save auction. In fact, you don’t have to be an investor at all. The Bundle-and-Save auctions are open to all homebuyers, even if you’re looking for your own primary residence.
For all intents and purposes, a Bundle-and-Save auction is a single auction of lower-valued homes, mostly worth less than $30,000. If you buy more than one property in that auction, you only pay one Buyer’s Premium on the entire purchase. This can result in great savings when you’re buying lower-value homes, since the minimum Buyer’s Premium is 5% of the purchase price or $2,500, whichever is more. (Of course, this doesn’t apply to properties that are being auctioned with no Buyer’s Premium.)
If you’re the winning bidder on a single property in a Bundle-and-Save event, it’s just like any type of online auction at Auction.com: You’ll pay your high bid plus the Buyer’s Premium, and that will equal the total purchase price. However, if you buy multiple properties, the savings can really begin to add up.
Let’s look at an example where an investor buys five homes, all with $10,000 winning bids.
Scenario 1: Non-Bundle-and-Save Auction – Buyer’s Premium Per Property
| Winning Bid | Buyer’s Premium | Total Purchase Price |
| $10,000 | $2,500 | $12,500 |
| $10,000 | $2,500 | $12,500 |
| $10,000 | $2,500 | $12,500 |
| $10,000 | $2,500 | $12,500 |
| $10,000 | $2,500 | $12,500 |
| $50,000 | $12,500 | $62,500 |
Scenario 2: Bundle-and-Save Auction – Buyer’s Premium on Grand Total
| Winning Bid | Buyer’s Premium | Total Purchase Price |
| $10,000 | — | $10,000 |
| $10,000 | — | $10,000 |
| $10,000 | — | $10,000 |
| $10,000 | — | $10,000 |
| $10,000 | — | $10,000 |
| $50,000 | $2,500* | $52,500 |
*5% or $2,500, whichever is more. In this $50,000 example, they equal each other.
Your savings: $10,000! That’s equivalent to one entire house.
The bottom line: If you’re planning to buy multiple lower-value homes, look for Bundle-and-Save auctions on the Auction.com Auction Calendar. You can realize big savings if you buy those homes together.
