'Modern auction method'

AuctionSmorkshun

I just received an email update from the auctioneers 'iam-sold' stating that the night had been a success with an 88% success rate quoting 59/67 lots sold.
The only way to arrive at this figure is to include all the properties in the catalogue which sold prior to the evening and as expected discount all the properties which were withheld so the assumption that this is what they were doing is correct.
And a further note of clarification - after having spoken further with my friends husband they were not advised to remove their property; they were told it was being removed and had no choice in the matter - something he is furious about.

So all in all if you are a cash buyer and fancy a cheap property go for it (making sure you take into account the reservation fees - some sites have more than one and don't forget to include VAT). If you are a seller looking for a decent price think twice; this method seems to actually generate lower bids.

Yorkie1

Trading standards might be interested in that manipulation of stats if they are using it for advertising purposes ...

Racer52

Wish we had seen this thread or had a bit more information before we bought a house through this "Process".
We were looking at a house through a local estate agent, not sure if we are allowed to name to won't for the time being, and they had listed it as a Modern Method of Auction so naturally I enquired as what that is.
They infomed me that it was a way of giving the seller and buyer security due to the deposit (now naturally we find out this is not a deposit and is a referral fee) paid and unlike a regular auction restriced to 28 days completlion this allows 28 days for exchange then a further 28 days to complete.
Now my 2 concerns due to being in a chain were that if the chain colapsed I wouldn't loose the full £6000.00 and also if there were unforseen delays I wouldn't want to loose the £6000.00 and they reassured me that they would put in these terms in the contract.
At this point I was told to call their Auction Department (now naturally we find out they don't have one and that actaully they just give you a local number but it diverts to the company named in a previous post) and pay the deposit to secure the house which I did by Credit Card.
The following Monday we went to our local branch of the estate agents and signed the paperwork and they pointed out that a break in the chain would result in my loosing £600.00 rather than the full £6000.00 and that if a delay should arise to contact them. This was acceptable to me and so I signed and let the solicitors do their thing.
Turns out we were going to be delayed by about 2 weeks and so sent an email over informing them and had a reply that this was ok and to continue.
Then a couple of days before the original date of completion I had a phone call from their "Auction Department" saying that if we didn't complete on the original date we would loose the house and the deposit, I highlighted the previous conversations and email and they told me that wasn't relevant and sure enough on the original date the house was put back on the market and consequently re-sold to a new buyer and they have kept our £6000.00 and taken a further £6000.00 from the new buyer.
Obviously not a happy bunny, I phone the estate agents to see what has happened and this is when I am told that although the paperwork was signed in branch and had the estate agent's logo all over it there is a small bit of text at the bottom back page that the "Auction Department" is actually a trading name of the previously mentioned company and not my local estate agents at all and so they couldn't stand by anything they had said or written in emails because the contract wasn't with them and was actually with this third party company!?
I have sent this to The Property Ombudsman to look into for us because the estate agent is saying it is nothing to do with them and that our contract is with the third party and then the third party is saying they never agreed to the 2 week delay and so get to keep the full £6000.00 not even just the £600.00.
So as any potential buyer reading this be very careful because I feel we were mislead into thinking we were dealing with our local estate agent and that the information they were giving was right and it turns out unless it is from this third party, whihc you are never told about, then it doesn't get taken into consideration.
Looking into it now I can see why colapsing the transaction benefits them because of course they get to collect the £6000.00 per offer without even selling the house, in fact I think the buyers after us lost it too and it was sold for a 3rd time meaning they collected £18,000.00 for one house that wasn't even sold.
If anyone is interested I'll update what the outcome is but am very concerned about the methods especially this, "we have a new Auction Department" when you call them up and enquire rather than telling the truth that another company will handle the sale.
Sorry for long first post

mr2296

@Racer52 - This is the first time I've heard of this buying method and would be very interested to hear if you had any update?
How is this process even legal and is there any way of getting around it with the estate agents?

grixxles

googler wrote: »

Presumably the seller is committed by their agreement with the co., but

"5% paid within 48 hrs of auction completion (this is a reservation fee and does not form part-payment of the final selling price)"

They're charging buyers 5% just to buy from them....!?!?!?

Yes. But it gets much worse.


A "buyer" must pay the £6000 fee (minimum), even if the sale does not complete (even though no fault of the "buyer")


What "buyer", with any sense, would pay £6000, with the chance of getting nothing in return for it?


Seems like a complete rip-off, to me.

grixxles

Racer52 wrote: »

Wish we had seen this thread or had a bit more information before we bought a house through this "Process".
We were looking at a house through a local estate agent, not sure if we are allowed to name to won't for the time being, and they had listed it as a Modern Method of Auction so naturally I enquired as what that is.
They infomed me that it was a way of giving the seller and buyer security due to the deposit (now naturally we find out this is not a deposit and is a referral fee) paid and unlike a regular auction restriced to 28 days completlion this allows 28 days for exchange then a further 28 days to complete.
Now my 2 concerns due to being in a chain were that if the chain colapsed I wouldn't loose the full £6000.00 and also if there were unforseen delays I wouldn't want to loose the £6000.00 and they reassured me that they would put in these terms in the contract.
At this point I was told to call their Auction Department (now naturally we find out they don't have one and that actaully they just give you a local number but it diverts to the company named in a previous post) and pay the deposit to secure the house which I did by Credit Card.
The following Monday we went to our local branch of the estate agents and signed the paperwork and they pointed out that a break in the chain would result in my loosing £600.00 rather than the full £6000.00 and that if a delay should arise to contact them. This was acceptable to me and so I signed and let the solicitors do their thing.
Turns out we were going to be delayed by about 2 weeks and so sent an email over informing them and had a reply that this was ok and to continue.
Then a couple of days before the original date of completion I had a phone call from their "Auction Department" saying that if we didn't complete on the original date we would loose the house and the deposit, I highlighted the previous conversations and email and they told me that wasn't relevant and sure enough on the original date the house was put back on the market and consequently re-sold to a new buyer and they have kept our £6000.00 and taken a further £6000.00 from the new buyer.
Obviously not a happy bunny, I phone the estate agents to see what has happened and this is when I am told that although the paperwork was signed in branch and had the estate agent's logo all over it there is a small bit of text at the bottom back page that the "Auction Department" is actually a trading name of the previously mentioned company and not my local estate agents at all and so they couldn't stand by anything they had said or written in emails because the contract wasn't with them and was actually with this third party company!?
I have sent this to The Property Ombudsman to look into for us because the estate agent is saying it is nothing to do with them and that our contract is with the third party and then the third party is saying they never agreed to the 2 week delay and so get to keep the full £6000.00 not even just the £600.00.
So as any potential buyer reading this be very careful because I feel we were mislead into thinking we were dealing with our local estate agent and that the information they were giving was right and it turns out unless it is from this third party, whihc you are never told about, then it doesn't get taken into consideration.
Looking into it now I can see why colapsing the transaction benefits them because of course they get to collect the £6000.00 per offer without even selling the house, in fact I think the buyers after us lost it too and it was sold for a 3rd time meaning they collected £18,000.00 for one house that wasn't even sold.
If anyone is interested I'll update what the outcome is but am very concerned about the methods especially this, "we have a new Auction Department" when you call them up and enquire rather than telling the truth that another company will handle the sale.
Sorry for long first post

Extremely sorry to hear what you have been through.


Taking £6000 from prospective buyers, that get nothing in return, is plain wrong!

Cautious_Optimist

Racer52 wrote: »

pay the deposit to secure the house which I did by Credit Card.

So is there any chance of claiming this money back from the credit card company..?

agrinnall

While browsing through Right Move I came across this property for sale this way.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33207036.html

I've certainly been put off by the information in this thread, but I wondered if anyone had tried approaching the seller to simply make an offer outside of the auction process and its unacceptable charges?

stator

I've seen plenty for sale around here. It's a complete con and I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole

LeeBalders

@Racer52 I really hope you're successful in getting your money back. My OH and I viewed a property nearby that was listed in this way - we ran for our lives, but that was actually down to the place being an hilariously overpriced, damp ridden cesspit... Now I know this 'modern' method suited it pretty well.