In the early 1990's Willie Nelson had issues with the IRS related to back taxes that he was assessed for some disallowed deductions that had been made in prior tax years. According to Wikipedia:

In 1990, the IRS seized most of Nelson's assets, claiming that he owed $32 million.

In 1991 the IRS auctioned off the 76-acre Pedernales Country Club outside of Austin, Texas which Nelson had purchased in 1979 and converted to a recording studio complex, complete with living accommodations for Nelson, family members, and employees.

According to a New York Times article at the time, former football coach and Nelson friend Darrell Royal purchased the property at the auction with a winning bid of $117,375. Stating at the time that he "wanted to see it stay open" and also admitting that he paid a "cheap price".

However according to the Wikipedia article, when the IRS learned of Royal's intention they refunded him his money, and then later sold the property to some investors for $230,000. Nelson eventually did wind up being able to repurchase the property several years later.

Clearly it wouldn't matter to the IRS what a new owner did with the property. I don't know if a reason for cancelling the sale was given by the IRS, but apparently, according to the Wikipedia article, the IRS cancelled the sale within the 120 day "right of redemption" period of the IRS. According to the IRS web page on the topic (apparently last modified in 2016):

5.12.5.1 (06-07-2016)
Redemption Overview

1. The Internal Revenue Service has the right to redeem real property sold through a foreclosure action initiated by a third party that has a priority interest over the federal tax lien.
2. The time period for a redemption after a foreclosure sale, with respect to either a non-judicial or judicial foreclosure, is 120 calendar days or the period allowable for redemption under State law, whichever is longer.
3. IRS redemptions can benefit both the government and the taxpayer. The goal of redemption is for the property to be resold for an amount substantial enough to pay off the foreclosing instrument and apply funds to the taxpayer's liability. The key to a successful redemption case is locating a guaranteed bidder willing to advance a deposit (generally in the amount of twenty (20) percent) of the amount bid.

I am interested in the statement "The goal of redemption is for the property to be resold for an amount substantial enough to pay off the foreclosing instrument and apply funds to the taxpayer's liability."

I get the general concept of what this is saying, but I don't quite understand the specifics. I assume that the foreclosure instrument referred to is the amount owed to the creditor on that particular property. I am also guessing that the minimum bid that the IRS would accept is the foreclosure amount. In that case the IRS would be hoping to get money out of the sale, and at worst break even. But I don't know for sure if the auctions of IRS seized property works this way. And then I'm not clear if later exercising their redemption option requires that a high enough bid is found to not only pay off the foreclosure, but also make a substantial contribution toward the overall tax liability. Or if it's merely a "goal" of the redemption process. Then again if the IRS gets to decide what is "substantial" then they can exercise this option any time they want to within the 120 day period.

I realize that is several questions, but I think it can all be distilled to my title question, could Darrell Royal have ensured that he would be able to keep the Pedernales Country Club by paying enough to satisfy the foreclosing instrument, or is there really nothing stopping the IRS from cancelling the sale if they can find a higher bidder within 120 days? If it's the latter then it would seem that the only way for Royal to have ensured that the sale would go through is if he bid an amount equal to Nelson's entire unpaid tax liability, i.e. however much of the original $32 million was still owed after whatever prior sales of other Nelson owned property had taken place. Or at least at a minimum bid an amount that is practically guaranteed to not be later outbid, for example bidding twice the appraised value of the property.

Besides being something of a trivia question, this also has obvious implications for someone trying to hold onto family owned property for example when it has been seized by the IRS, since apparently homestead exceptions don't apply to IRS seizures.