Would you buy at an Auction ??

luvpump

If you had the cash ?? Its something ime considering, have any members any experience of buying at one ? Wondering about the pluses & minuses using an Auction ?

AdrianC

Think firstly about why a house is being auctioned. Big clue: It's not because the vendor feels charitable and wants to give somebody a bargain. If somewhere I wanted to buy was being auctioned, I was very happy that I understood EXACTLY what was needed, and it was looking like it'd be at the right price - yes, I'd do it. But I'd go into that auction with a hard upper cap, and be VERY prepared to sit on my hand if the bidding passed above it.

There's two places near here that I've watched go through auctions lately.

First was guide price £100k, needed structural work to one corner and a full refit. It went for £135k. No way would anybody make a profit at that.

Second was guide £130k, and was basically three walls and a plot. It went for £160k. I thought the guide was optimistic.

If you do, be aware that you are effectively exchanging contracts when that hammer comes down, and you have 28 days to COMPLETE. If you don't have the funds lined up, it's not quite impossible, but pretty damn close.

It really is one of those "If you have to ask, then the answer's probably "don't"" questions.

Old_Git

I have sold at auction .I would say read the legal pack first .
You may have 14/ 28 days to complete .You may have to pay the vendors fees and you will have to pay auction fees and a deposit at the time of the auction .

Watch homes under the hammer

stator

No. I wouldn't want to spend money on getting the property checked out before the auction only to end up not winning the auction. And I wouldn't want to bid on it until I had it checked out. So auctions are a catch 22 for me.
If you are a professional property developer and willing to take risks then go ahead.

Old_Git

my mum and dad bought there first home at an auction .It was a house and shop and the vendor had told everyone they where looking a lot of money .
My dad went to the auction and put in the only bid and got it .

vjm63

We sold our last house at auction. This was basically to get shot of it - we had already bought and moved elsewhere, and whilst we had the old house empty up for sale with an estate agent, it got broken into and the boiler and pipework stolen.

This, combined with having incompetent/untruthful estate agents, made us just auction it because we would get a 'clean' sale, no hassle about the state of the property after the burglary, and actually get completion far more quickly - any buyer via the EA would possibly have taken months, with lots of too-ing and fro-ing, if they ever materialized in reality.

As it was - we put into their catalogue the day before it closed, 'sold' the next month, completion the month after - job done, hassle gone.

Running_Horse

Old_Git wrote: »

Watch homes under the hammer

And take it with a very large pinch of salt.

A couple of houses have been featured near me, both with land attached. In both cases a large "profit" was announced at the end of the programme.

But one was overpriced and did not sell for a couple of years, and the other did not sell at all and was put up for rent. One failed to get planning for the land, and the other did but took several years to build and has not yet been occupied or put up for sale.

I'm sure there is money to be made from auctions, but would want a proper surveyor to tell me why it was not being sold in the normal way.

The other thing is you look at the list of auction lots, and it is very restricted in terms of locations and property type. I have yet to see anything remotely like the next house we want to move to.

eddddy

I guess it depends what you are looking for.

If you ask auctioneers what sort of property is suitable for auction, they suggest things like:

• Those that are run down/dilapidated/with structural problems
• Those that are unique/rarely available
• Single/multiple building plots
• Lock up garages/garage blocks
• Investment properties
• Those with development potential
• Deceased estates

So if that's the sort of thing you are looking for, an auction might be a good place to go.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a mortgageable, desirable, conventional property, with no significant problems - a conventional EA might be a better bet.

teddysmum

A reason for auction, that has not been mentioned, is to settle the estate of someone deceased.


One near us went at a bargain price, being early 1970s and just in need of an updated kitchen and possibly bathroom. It was one of several similar , on an estate built by a very reputable builder, so little risk of anything nasty.

AdrianC

teddysmum wrote: »

A reason for auction, that has not been mentioned, is to settle the estate of someone deceased.

In itself, that's not a "reason". I'd suggest the majority of probate sales are done in the usual way.

davidmcn

AdrianC wrote: »

In itself, that's not a "reason". I'd suggest the majority of probate sales are done in the usual way.

True, but in places where there's a slow-moving market, executors (or a mortgagee in possession) might simply want a quick sale to avoid an empty property deteriorating, whereas an owner-occupier might be content to carry on living there while waiting for a buyer to come along. There's nothing necessarily "wrong" with the property.