Buying a house by auction

awdaad

I am interested buying a house by auction. I have come across 2 property auction houses while browsing on the net. They both asked me to register with them, with a fee ranging from £125 for few months to £250+vat for life membership, before I could get their brochures etc. How does it work?

What do you think about the fee or the membership? Is it worth it?

Are there any online free property auction sites?

Doozergirl

Nooo! Don't do it! Those companies only link to information that is available for free from the real auctioneers. They tend to recycle the information given and make it look like it's them selling it. It isn't.

Here's a list of upcoming auctions. It's updated once a month or so.
http://www.property-investor-news.com/auctions.htm

If you use the A-Z links at the side there are generally links to the website of each auctioneer. If not, a quick Google chould find you what you're looking for.

HTH

Gem_

Sounds a bit odd to me. As far as I know you should not be paying for auction brouchers (well beyond the phone call to order it) sounds like a bit of a scam.

There are plenty of auction cataloges to be had on the internet. I am not sure where you are in the country, but as an example:

(Staffordshire) http://www.buttersjohnbee.com/propauctions.html
(Leeds) http://www.eddisons.com/propertyauctions/diary

I am thinking about buying at auction as finding myself priced out of the regular market. Would love to get some advice from any experienced developers among us.

HTH

Gem

Gem_

oh you beat me to it Doozergirl - thanks for the link

G

tesuhoha

You can order Ward's auction catalogue by phoning this number (0906 558 1288) and giving your address. Dont know if they send it for your area though. (Thats the number I got for the Kent area - picked up the original catalogue in a solicitors office) Calls cost£1/min from a BT landline. Its a free catalogue and the call takes about 1 min. You can also order by subscription next 4 catalogues for £20. Dont know if Wards is in your area but you could try other estate agents.

Han_naH

OK and do remember that Auctions are for cash buyers. If you want to arrange a mortgage, make an offer prior to Auction. If accepted, it is removed and sold to you.
Why do this? Because you put down 10% on the day and have 21 days to arrange funds. You will need access for survey etc.
Sometimes the seller decides to play funny, and deny access/go on holiday/in hospital, you name it. They keep the 10% You lose your money and house. No joke, auction rules, nothing you can do etc.
Imagine putting 15K down on a 150K house? Yep, it's bad news.

Also avoid auctioneer bidding off the wall (don't bid via telephone) and he'll spot you if you paid for surveys etc and didn't bid on anythign else. He'll drive the price up, off the wall.
Caveat emptor!

itsakidsworld

Good advice from the last post so please take note!!

If you are serious about buying at an auction then why not go along to as many as you can and get a feel of them first. Ask the people who are working for the auction such as auctioneer, staff, solicitor on site and get a general picture. Most are willing to offer help. Tell them the truth that you are learning about auctions instead of trying to bluff. They will help but do this before the auction starts.

Auctions are always full of people who know what they are doing and it can be a very intimidating place for a first timer. When you are there, look for big developers, look for buy to let investors and try to spot the person who wants that house for their new home!!!! Good fun and a great way to learn.

Bye for now, got an auction to go too!!!!!!:

Doozergirl

leejp wrote:

Sometimes the seller decides to play funny, and deny access/go on holiday/in hospital, you name it. They keep the 10% You lose your money and house. No joke, auction rules, nothing you can do etc.
Imagine putting 15K down on a 150K house? Yep, it's bad news.

When you sign on the dotted line and leave your 10% deposit, you're exchanging contracts with the vendor's solicitor with completion date 28 days hence. It's not auction rules, it's UK property law. It's the same as doing it the usual way, except that you're perhaps not giving your solicitor the time to ensure that mortgages etc. are in place before giving you the go ahead to exchange.

The solicitor should be holding the deposit so the vendor can't just do a runner with your money. The only way they can keep your money is if you breach the contract and don't complete in time; that's why you have to make sure that you have funding, and why cash is the best idea at auction.

poopscoop

leejp wrote:

OK and do remember that Auctions are for cash buyers.

Not it isn't. high price lots or any other lot can be funded with mortgages. You just need to arrange it before you go to auction

byaru

Hi,
I am also doing some research as i am interested in buying a property at auction. I came across the following websites and hopefully you willl get the info. you require. Here they are:
https://www.propertyauctions.com
https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/CommunityServices/HomeOwnership/auctions.htm
https://www.propertyauctionzone.com/buyer.htm

Like you, i was also asked to register (which i thought was a rip off) bearing in mind there are other free websites. Also, try requesting catalogues from Auctioneers directly.

Good luck.

stphnstevey

poopscoop wrote:

Not it isn't. high price lots or any other lot can be funded with mortgages. You just need to arrange it before you go to auction

How would you arrange a mortgage for an auction property? Please elaborate.