What Are Government Auctions And How You Can Benefit
People generally do not know that law enforcement agencies, ranging from county sheriff departments and local police all the way up to state and federal agencies, are in possession of a lot of lost, confiscated, or abandoned items. This property ends up in the agency’s possession as the result of arrest’s, forfeitures and just plain carelessness on the part of the property owner who sets a camera down in some public place and walk’s away. Once the agency has accumulated enough property they will hold a police impound auction. The police impound auction has a two-fold purpose. The property police can acquire can fill up a small store, especially on the state and federal level.
Second, they want to turn this unclaimed or forfeited property into cash. This money normally returns to the budget of the agency, but there are instances where it is designated for the particular goverment’s “general fund”. For big departments the police auctions are the big money raiser,doesn’t matter where the money ends. The property was confiscated and the police seized auction: items, fall into this category is usually the elite de elite police auction industry. This is where you can find anything from motorcycles and cars, to boats, airplanes, and homes! Forfeited property is generally the result of drug arrest’s where it was determined that the seized property was either used in the commission of drug-related crimes or was purchased with money that was received as the result of a drug-related crime.
When you win a bid at a police impound auction, you will have to take the item exactly the way that it came. It’s important for you to understand that when you hear the term”as is” it might very well be referring to major damage, and not just slight cosmetic issues. If, for example, you buy property at auction, and that property has tax liens placed against it, you will be expected to clear those liens before you can take rightful ownership. It is always true with home loans and auto loans. You can find some real bargains at police auctions for this type of high-value merchandise but you need to perform your due diligence so you don’t end up in red ink after the transaction.
Obviously, as with all auctions, it is preferable to check out the things that interest you in advance of any bidding. You may have your eye on a laptop yet are unable to check whether it’s operating, so what is a non-functioning laptop really worth? You cannot return anything since all sales are final. Avoid disappointment, and don’t bid on anything you can’t personally inspect. You can get some great deals at government auctions but you need to make sure you don’t get overexcited and carried away. Before the auction starts, find out how much the item is worth to make sure that your government auctions experience is a good one.