Yeah, I mis-worded that. He was in an unusual position as both a bidder and a beneficiary of the sale.
I wonder how unusual that is. In theory it's the fairest way - auction off all the assets, and beneficiaries are welcome to bid on anything.
To be fair however, beneficiaries should be credited with their pro-rata share of the proceeds from their own bid. Say I bid $100,000 on a vacant lot and win, and I am a 50-50 beneficiary with my sister.
I should only have to cough up $50k at time of sale, as the other $50k can be credited to me and used to help fund the sale. Though I guess there could be timing issues. I don't really have much estate experience.