Hello, this is Homo Efficiens.
In early July, I posted about the final stop of my nationwide bidding tour at the Daejeon Court. On that day, the public auction results were announced right before the deadline for the court auction. This timing allowed me to place an aggressive bid in the court auction.
Although I didn’t win the court auction, I remember this experience well because I was able to calculate the bid amount calmly and confidently, thanks to winning the public auction.
**[Real Estate Auction] Nationwide Tour #4: Daejeon District Court (Subtitle: The Daejeon Auction Market is Currently Booming. The Courtroom Was Packed)**
Hello, this is Homo Efficens. The original plan for the nationwide auction bidding tour included stops in Suwon (Ansan) - Gwangju - Busan - Ulsan. However, I decided to skip Ulsan because the property I intended to bid on didn’t seem suitable.
Time has passed, and the sale approval decision has been finalized. I have completed the balance payment and the registration process.
Once again, by doing the self-registration, I was able to save 400,000 to 500,000 KRW in fees. Since this was my second time doing a self-registration, it felt much smoother. In fact, it seems that self-registration for public auctions is a bit easier.
While there are plenty of resources online about self-registration for court auctions, information about public auctions is scarce. Therefore, I want to share my experience to help others.
Let me start by sharing my experience with self-registration, where I was praised by the officials for being perfectly prepared (haha).
**Overall Process**
Since public auctions are handled by a public corporation like KAMCO, the guidance is much more detailed compared to court auctions.
After the sale decision is made, you can download the notice that specifies the balance payment amount and deadline from the KAMCO website. Payment can be made through a virtual account.
Next, you need to prepare the required documents (such as the real estate registry, land ledger, building ledger, proof of full payment, and resident registration certificate) and visit the relevant district or municipal office to report and pay the acquisition tax and registration license tax (for the registration cancellation).
After reporting and paying the taxes, purchase stamps at the post office for mailing costs, then fill out and submit the ownership transfer application (provided by KAMCO or the court) along with all the prepared documents.
For more detailed information on each step, along with my experiences, please refer to the full post below.
**Public Auction vs. Court Auction Process Comparison:**
1. **Public Auction:**
- Sale Approval Decision (Balance Payment Notice)
- Pick up in person or download from the website
- Balance Payment
- Pay to the specified virtual account, then print the receipt
- Acquisition Tax and Registration License Tax Reporting
- Visit the relevant district/municipal office or use Witax
- Purchase Stamps for Mailing Costs
- At the post office
- Submit Ownership Transfer Application
- Submit to the relevant KAMCO branch
2. **Court Auction:**
- Sale Approval Decision (Not the Balance Payment Notice)
- Receive by mail
- Balance Payment
- Visit the court to pay
- Pick up the notice from the auction department, then pay at the bank, return to the auction department to receive the proof of full payment
- Acquisition Tax and Registration License Tax Reporting
- Visit the relevant district/municipal office or use Witax
- Purchase Stamps for Mailing Costs
- At the post office
- Submit Ownership Transfer Application
- Submit to the civil execution department of the court
**Preparation of Documents:**
Required documents include:
- Sale Approval Notice
- Real Estate Registry
- Land Ledger
- Building Ledger
- Proof of Full Payment
- Resident Registration Certificate
- Ownership Transfer Application
Prepare two copies of each document, as some offices may require duplicates.
**Move to the District/Municipal Office to Report Acquisition and Registration License Tax:**
Unlike court auctions, the entire process up to the balance payment for public auctions can be completed online. Therefore, the actual physical involvement begins at this stage.
After paying the balance to the specified virtual account and printing the receipt, visit the district or municipal office responsible for the property.
<Documents to Prepare>
- Notice of Sale Approval
- Certified Copy of Real Estate Register
- Cadastral Map of the Land
- Building Registry
- Receipt of Full Payment
- Resident Registration Certificate
- Application for Transfer of Ownership Registration (+ Receipt of Completed Payment)
The property I won in the public auction is located in Sejong City, which doesn’t have a district office. Typically, tax-related matters in Sejong are handled by the city hall, but Sejong is a special city, so it's slightly different. For areas like Jochiwon-dong, Naeseong-dong, and Goun-dong, the acquisition tax reporting is handled not by the Sejong City Hall but by the Areumdong Community Center.
When I asked the responsible official, they explained that Sejong City has grown, but it hasn’t yet been divided into districts, so the Areumdong Community Center handles some of these tasks.
Since I had previous experience, I printed and filled out the necessary tax reporting documents at home (available for download on the relevant office’s website). Preparing these in advance is convenient, especially because you can count the number of registrations to be canceled at home. The official praised my documents as being perfect, giving me 100 points, haha.
**Move to the Bank to Pay Taxes, Registration Fees, and Sell National Housing Bonds:**
Since the Areumdong Community Center isn’t a district office, it doesn’t have a bank on-site. Therefore, I had to move to a nearby bank. Make sure to check with the tax office regarding which bank handles National Housing Bonds before you go. For me, the nearest bank was NH Bank.
Since I had already paid the taxes, the two tasks left at the bank were:
- Payment of the registration application fee = Basic fee of 15,000 KRW + (Number of registrations to be canceled x 3,500 KRW)
- Immediate sale of National Housing Bonds
You must calculate and apply for these fees yourself; the bank will not do it for you. You should count the number of registrations to be canceled, check the official price in advance, and use a real estate calculator to determine the amount needed to purchase the bonds. (The bank will inform you of the discounted price and fees for immediate sale.)
One inconvenience of bank payments is that they don’t accept card payments, and if you don’t have an account at that bank, you must pay in cash. Since I didn’t have an account at NH Bank, I had to withdraw cash from the ATM to pay.
<Documents>
- Notice of Sale Approval
- Certified Copy of Real Estate Register
- Cadastral Map of the Land
- Building Registry
- Receipt of Full Payment
- Resident Registration Certificate
- Application for Transfer of Ownership Registration
- (Additional Documents: Receipt of Payment, Acquisition Tax Receipt, Registration Tax Receipt, Registration Application Fee Receipt, Confirmation of Immediate Sale of National Housing Bonds)
**Move to the Post Office to Purchase Stamps:**
Even though we will submit the documents to the relevant KAMCO branch, the actual registration process is handled by the registry office, not KAMCO. Therefore, the bidder is responsible for the mailing costs between KAMCO and the registry office, as well as for the mailing costs of sending the completed documents back to us.
To cover these costs, visit the post office to purchase two stamps (for registered mail, the cost is between 4,000 and 6,000 KRW). The exact amount needed will be specified in the KAMCO guidelines.
The Areumdong Post Office is conveniently located right across the street from the Areumdong Community Center.
<Documents>
- Notice of Sale Approval
- Certified Copy of Real Estate Register
- Cadastral Map of the Land
- Building Registry
- Receipt of Full Payment
- Resident Registration Certificate
- Application for Transfer of Ownership Registration
- (Additional Documents: Receipt of Payment, Acquisition Tax Receipt, Registration Tax Receipt, Registration Application Fee Receipt, Confirmation of Immediate Sale of National Housing Bonds, Post Stamp*2)
**Move to the KAMCO Branch to Submit All Prepared Documents:**
The KAMCO branch responsible for managing the Sejong property is the Daejeon-Chungnam branch, located in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, near the Daejeon Government Complex and Daejeon District Court.
Although you can send the documents by mail, I chose to visit in person since it was my first time. The distance from Areumdong to Dunsan-dong is about 30 km, which took about 40-50 minutes by car.
After parking, I inquired at the lobby, and I was directed to the 10th floor for ownership-related matters. Upon arriving on the 10th floor, I entered the office, and the staff called the responsible officer to review and accept the documents at a table.
**Conclusion:**
Once you’ve submitted all the documents, everything is complete. Unless there are any special issues, KAMCO will send the documents to the registry office the next day, and the status of the registration and any changes can be checked online through the registry office within a week.
Of course, receiving the registration certificate at home may take a bit longer due to mailing time. If you don’t have a mortgage, I recommend trying self-registration. Although the first time can be intimidating, you’ll find that it’s not difficult. You can do it, too, just like I did!
Thank you for reading today’s post.
