buying a house auctioned off in Belgium

Best is to visit any house to be auctioned , and go to the auction , maybe you can find some information on how to on Google , but I don't know any book or booklets , also auction rules are local, and you have to make sure you have the money or mortgage in hand , as there are no conditional exceptions at auction , if you bid the highest bid , you have to pay.

Take advice from any notaris/notaire. They will not expect you to pay for this kind of basic info.

A friend of mine went to an auction, bid for and won a house but forgot to take his ID with him. He didn't really speak any French (it was in the centre of Brussels, near the Grand Place) and I got a phone call and had to move pretty sharpish to get it sorted.

Suffice to say, the auction house were not best amused.

The auction process is fairly straightforward but make sure you have the money sorted out in advance as you don't get long to pay.

I would be surprised if it was anything else other than 'buyer beware' as well, but as Kassei says, speak to your notaire first. You'll need one in any event so sort that out in advance if you already haven't.

I have been to a few auctions (not as a buyer but with friends or family who were buyers) and always they have decided to have a second auction. Basically if the price has not reached the amount the sellers were hoping for, they decide to try again in say 2 or 3 weeks - and the last bidder is bound to the sale until the next auction when possibly, or possibly not, someone offers more than he has. The seller does not seem to have anything to lose by trying again later as he keeps the bid he has, but the buyer cannot bid on anything else until he knows if he has bought or not.