Hidden Treasures
          
               Why are bargains so plentiful at these auctions? 
          For one reason, government auctions are largely unknown
          to the public.  Most shoppers hunt through the display
          ads announcing department -store sales, rather than
          through the classified ads for auctions.  Therefore,
          competition among the few buyers who do show up is often
          rather lackluster.
               For another reason, the market value of many items -
          - even luxury yachts -- is often not obvious to the
          casual bidder.  The same goes for jewelry, fashions,and
          art objects.  So investors who take the trouble to do a
          little preliminary research on the items up for auction
          can sometimes pick up very valuable merchandise for just
          pennies on the dollar.
               To get an idea of how many opportunities there are,
          pick up your local phone book.  In major metro areas,
          there are pages of listings just for the U.S. government
          -- Customs Service, Housing and Urban Development,
          Farmers Home Administration, Veterans Administration, and
          on and on.  City and state governments, too,have their
          own agencies, such as police and sheriff's offices.  A
          surprising number of these government agencies seize
          property -- preferably someone else's property.  Perhaps
          they made a loan that went into default, so the
          collateral was attached.  Perhaps property was taken to
          pay off tax obligations.  Or perhaps law-enforcement
          agencies seized property in connection with their crime-
          prevention efforts.
               Each of these scenarios is a potential auction.  To
          locate auctions, pick up a copy of your local newspaper,
          in which you might see property for sale, often in the
          "Legal Notices" section of the classified ads.  Weekends
          are a particularly good time to look.  Mid-summer is
          supposed to be a slow time of the year, but a look
          through the New York Times in July revealed nearly two
          pages of auction sales, including the following:
               * Contents of six "central federal" bank branches by
          order of the Resolution Trust Corporation.  (That's the
          government corporation handling the S&L bailout.)
               * Furniture, wall units, glass-top dinette set, gold
          and silver jewelry, etc., by order of Queens County
          Public Administrator.
               * A one-family house with four bedrooms, two full
          bathrooms, eat-in kitchen, and a detached one-car garage
          by order of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District
          of New York.
               * Autos, trucks, and vans, by order of the New York
          City Department of Transportation (minimum bid $50).
               * Jewelry, watches, coins, cars, and a 27-foot boat
          and trailer by order of U.S. Marshals.
               * A four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on Long Island
          with a covered patio and thermopane windows by order of
          the U.S. Customs Service.
               * That's what was available in one newspaper in one
          city at a slow time of the year.  Almost anything you
          might want to buy is available, far below retail price,
          if you know where to look.  that's what we'll explain to
          you in this report.