# Opening Bid Question

**URL:** <https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619>\
**Category:** Using PropertyRadar\
**Created:** [August 19, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619 "2009-08-19T02:06:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rick2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rick2](https://community.propertyradar.com/u/Rick2)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619/1 "2009-08-19T02:06:39Z")

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Why is the Opening Bid only available for a few properties (many are blank or $0), and how does [ForclosureRadar.com](http://ForclosureRadar.com) get the Opening bid info?

Do the lenders give the auctioneer the opening bid amount right before the auction, or is there a requirement that the openong bid amount be recorded first?

I guess I am just looking for a way to tell what the opening bid will be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Rick2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rick2](https://community.propertyradar.com/u/Rick2)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619/2 "2009-08-19T02:50:01Z")

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After further review, I see that there is really no way to know unless you attend the auction.

Does anyone have any rules of thumb that have given them reasonable results?

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**Author:** ![Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sean](https://community.propertyradar.com/u/Sean)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 6:19am UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619/3 "2009-08-21T06:19:48Z")

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We actually report it on quite a few properties, and even have a couple of banks that occasionally give us opening bids as much as a week in advance. Still, you are right, there are many that you just have to attend the auction to find out about as many banks (servicers) don’t deliver them until moments before the sale.

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**Author:** ![Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Martin](https://community.propertyradar.com/u/Martin)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619/4 "2009-09-22T21:53:07Z")

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What does it mean when it states “unknown” under the “Postponed for” column?

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**Author:** ![Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sean](https://community.propertyradar.com/u/Sean)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://community.propertyradar.com/t/opening-bid-question/2619/5 "2009-09-23T05:28:06Z")

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It means that we don’t know the reason it was postponed. We can’t always get this information.