SAN DIEGO — Bidding opened Friday for San Diego County’s online auction of properties in default on taxes, and more than 1600 people registered to participate.
“It has been going marvelously well. Our team has worked so hard, so good about bringing the market to the people, and it’s working,” said Dan McCallister, Treasurer-Tax Collector for San Diego County. “We’ve had a very good reaction. There are lots of bargain hunters out there and not just in San Diego.”
In February, CBS 8 previewed the auction of more than 400 listed properties, including homes, vacant lots, and timeshares, all of which were in default on taxes owed for more than five years.
“Things happen and they can’t be controlled. We’re human, we make mistakes, things happen,” said McCallister.
Property owners had until March 9 to pay their back taxes to redeem their properties before the auction, and many people came through at the last minute.
Out of the 66 homes originally listed, only seven of them actually made it to auction and all of them sold. Of the 33 vacant lots for sale, all but one sold. Timeshares are available for bidding until March 15 at 8:00 a.m.
“Time shares seem to make their way into this on a regular basis every year. It’s pretty impressive to watch people step up and pay, sometimes $100 dollars at times for these wonderful units, gives them a full week of vacation time somewhere and that always is a big hit,” said McCallister.
The proceeds from the auction will go to the county’s general fund.
Watch Related: San Diego County puts hundreds of defaulted properties up for auction (Feb 15, 2023)