FTB at auction

momisha

Hi, this is my first post despite being a lurker for many years and any advice would be gratefully received. We've had our eye on a property since January, it had previously been sold but the sale had fallen through and is now on a conditional auction. In this, you have 28 days to exchange contracts and a further 28 days to complete but you have to pay a £3600 non-refundable deposit upon winning.

We've only just come in a position to buy and have a mortgage promise from Halifax that would give us more than enough to buy the house in question. The thing is the auction terrifies me. As I've not bought a house before and Halifax are the only bank that will give us a mortgage (I'm on a zero hour contract). I'm worried that we'll win but then Halifax do a u-turn on the mortgage for whatever reason and we'll lose our deposit - which we cant afford to do.

I was thinking of putting in an offer prior to the auction in line with the original offer the owner had (as she'd told us about it) on the condition that it's not under auction terms (as id asked the agent if she'd be open to offers prior to auction and she said yes but it would be under auction terms). I know they might not accept offer bt thought it would be worth a try. Does any one else have any suggestions? Thanks :-)

TBeckett100

Get a mortgage broker to handle this and to do all the checks on you so there should be a better chance of it panning out

Old_Git

why did it fall through the last time and why is it going to Auction .
Could it be something showed up in a survey ?

where is the auction ,is it local or miles away .

Immers7

If you're worried about losing your deposit don't proceed to buy at the auction or/ on those terms.

Mortgage promise from Halifax isn't a guarantee of them offering you the mortgage for that property. Especially if it is based on a "soft credit search". The guys on the mortgage forum will be in a better position to give you an opinion on that point.

You can make an offer on any terms you like.

There is no magic answer.

blackshirtuk

momisha wrote: »

I was thinking of putting in an offer prior to the auction in line with the original offer the owner had (as she'd told us about it) on the condition that it's not under auction terms (as id asked the agent if she'd be open to offers prior to auction and she said yes but it would be under auction terms).

It may be that listing it with the auction means that any sale would be through the auction agents. The Owner would probably have had to sign something with the auction agents before it was entered into the auction.

martindow

This sounds like the 'modern auction' method. If you search for previous threads on this the general opinion is that they are best avoided. Only the auctioneer does well from these.

ruggedtoast

So, you are a first time buyer needing a mortgage planning to wave your arms around at an auction surrounded by property investors? Well...

AlexMac

Really dodgy buying with a 28 day deadline unless you have the cash or are prepared to risk the deposit; and although you can google 'auction bridging loans or finance' I suspect these are tricky/arm & a leg!

Having said that, I did just what you are considering; then nearly lost my £6k deposit when my Bank (who knew I was buying a wreck at auction) confirmed the mortgage... but subject to a 100% retention pending - wait for it -
-a full structural survey
- a tree survey
- a roof survey and
-a timber & damp survey
three days before the deadline!

Luckily, I'd smelt a rat and gone to another lender; who pulled out all the stops and came good within the 28 days. And in case that case it was Halifax who saved my bacon (and my marriage, which was scheduled for 3 days after the completion deadline.

So ask yesself... Do I feel lucky?

If not, walk away!