i attended one at the alameda county courthouse just to observe. it seemed like everybody there knew one another, so i inferred that the rumor of this being a professional's arena only was true. most of the participants had some sort of clipboard with their lists, i assume, of trustee sale properties they were tracking. you have to track the properties ahead of time in order to know what your bidding on. some persons were "colluding" or working together on bids, i don't quite know what the purpose was. some guy was on his phone telling coordinating bidding cues, "when i run my fingers through my hair, you up your bid five grand...". one or two of the bidders showed up with mostly cash for their bid: after the crier had announced a bid he had to pause for several minutes while he counted one of the qualifying bidders stack of cash. i didn't actually go inside the courthouse to look for a schedule of sales, but i suspect in alameda and contra costa that they are frequent - 4 or 5 days a week. the one i went to lasted from 12 til like 4 or so. i left at a little after 3 because it was too hot. the crier will probably take a break or two depending on how many sales are scheduled. he'll generally start off with all the canceled and postponed trustee sales before getting to the actual bidding. there seemed to be alot of disappointment with the people who got out bid. that's the short of it.

if it's something you really want to get into i really suggest hooking up with a pro who's been doing it in this area, hopefully with good results. i know some very impressive peoples who have a proven track record of doing that in the greater SF bay area. if you're interested just email me, introduce yourself and i can provide you with contact info.