Help please - what to set as limit at auction? 19 October 2019 at 8:14PM edited 19 October 2019 at 9:06PM in House Buying, Renting & Selling 48 replies 2.3K views

Skiddaw1

...And to be fair, unless you've gone for a vocational degree, I suspect there's few graduates who haven't spent some years after graduation in low-paid, low-skilled work regardless of what university they attended. I know I did. Indeed, my eventual career path was a bit of an accident and having a degree really didn't make any difference.



Anyway, all a bit off-topic really.:)

Enm1

Tom99 wrote: »

Whichever of the two flats you go for check out the service charge and any upcoming repairs as the block looks like a potential money pit.

Thanks Tom99 - fortunately the service charge is reasonable but clearly only ever going to rise. We think its worth it for the security of a 24hr manned reception and access to a gym as well as parking. Unfortunately service charges seem ubiquitous on Central London flats :(.

Enm1

deannatrois wrote: »

And funding for any major repairs by the freeholder (big enough sink fund etc). There is usually a reason why properties are offered at auction. Look for these reasons.

Thanks deannatrois - The block appears to be run by the leaseholders after a RTM takeover a few years ago (previously Peverel ran it and I've read they've had problems in a lot of the developments they run). There is a sink fund but not sure how big it is but at least replacing ignitable building cladding isn't an issue for this complex.

I believe the auction property needs a quick sale as the owners are going abroad.

Enm1

FreeBear wrote: »

If the auction house will allow it, entering a proxy (or postal) bid would save getting caught up in a bidding frenzy.

Thanks FreeBear - I'll try going to another auction or two before the big day and if I feel too uncomfortable :eek::eek: we'll consider a proxy bid.
Presumably the auctioneer will take the price up to our maximum bid if they know what we're prepared to pay? I'm guessing you may get a better deal if bidding in person?:money::money:

Enm1

getmore4less wrote: »

First one says under offer

Thanks getmore4less - That's odd as I can't see it under offer on Rightmove or the Estate Agents website? I'll check with the EA tomorrow as that would really complicate things :(

eddddy

Enm1 wrote: »

Just need to be disciplined on the auction day and not get carried away as we attend an auction recently and there was quite a frenzy and everyone could feel the tension in the room for some properties.

If there's a frenzy, don't get involved. Wait until the frenzy has finished before bidding.


If there's a frenzy, it tends to be because of illogical bidders.

For example,

• 3 or 4 bidders have a limit of around £250k for a property

• Bidding is moving up towards £250k

• Illogically, those 3 or 4 bidders all want to get a bid in before it reaches £250k

• (I guess they just want the buzz of telling people that they made a bid at a property auction.)

• The property eventually sells for £280k

It's far more sensible to wait until bidding has calmed down at about £270k before bidding (assuming that's still within your limit).

Enm1

eddddy wrote: »

If there's a frenzy, don't get involved. Wait until the frenzy has finished before bidding.


If there's a frenzy, it tends to be because of illogical bidders.

For example,

• 3 or 4 bidders have a limit of around £250k for a property

• Bidding is moving up towards £250k

• Illogically, those 3 or 4 bidders all want to get a bid in before it reaches £250k

• (I guess they just want the buzz of telling people that they made a bid at a property auction.)

• The property eventually sells for £280k

It's far more sensible to wait until bidding has calmed down at about £270k before bidding (assuming that's still within your limit).

Thanks eddddy - great advice :money::money: We'll set our max price and we're not desperate for this flat as there'll be others even in this one complex (currently 4 studios on Rightmove) :beer:

Cakeguts

kinger101 wrote: »

I've not dug into the underlying figures but the article does state:

"LSBU wins this award, having jumped into the top four for graduate prospects nationally, with nearly 89 per cent of graduates in professional graduate-level jobs or further study six months after graduation."

"Median LSBU graduate salaries start at £26,000, which is among the highest in the country."

I suspect they've not standardized this data by type of entrant (mature, postgraduate, international) but the fact is while it's not somewhere the most academically able might choose, it does offer a high proportion of vocational courses which will improve the prospects of those undertaking the course. This is what is likely being reflected in the stats.

Not everyone can get 3 or 4 good A-levels, but it doesn't mean there shouldn't be opportunities for them to continue education and gain skills valued by employers.

Yes I know it is off topic but you have really got to read what these things say. What it actually says is that probably 10 students got £26k or over. 10 got under £26k and the rest have stayed in education in the hope that they can turn their useless degrees into something that pays a bit more than national minimum wage.



There are only about 30 universities that give value for the money spent on the degree the others would all be better off as technical colleges offering free education to local people especially in London.



You don't have to go to university to gain skills valued by employers. That is exactly what technical colleges were for. The only diffence being that they are now called universities and can charge £9000 per year for the benefit of an old technical college education that used to be free. There are around 11 universities like this in London that used to be technical colleges. The technical colleges were run for the benefit of local people to give them skills to help them get a job. The backwards step was allowing them to turn into universities and charge students for these courses. Which are around the same level of difficulty as the free technical college courses.



You can see how these universities attract gullible students. £26k for most of the country would be a good salary but in London it wouldn't pay the rent on a one bed flat and leave much over.



Generally speaking the universities that have to advertise how many people get jobs or are in education 6 months later are the ones that students try to avoid going to because they know that they are not good value for money. I wouldn't expect the top universities to advertise how many people get jobs and what they are paid for them because they don't have any trouble attracting students. You can tell which universities are not worth paying to go to by their advertising if you read what it says carefully enough.



The student in this case is fortunately not attending this university which is a really good thing but I am still not convinced that buying a property for them to live in is worth it unless they are studying medicine which is a very long and expensive course. It probably wouldn't be worth it for a nursing degree because of the cost of selling a studio after the course has finished. It could be easy to sell but on the other hand it might not be which is why renting makes life easier.

FreeBear

Enm1 wrote: »

Presumably the auctioneer will take the price up to our maximum bid if they know what we're prepared to pay? I'm guessing you may get a better deal if bidding in person?

I've been to auctions where proxy bids have been entered (and done a couple myself). You don't get any extra brownie points for bidding in person, nor is there any special deals to be done. What normally happens with proxy bids, is the auctioneer looks at the reserve price then looks to see who has entered bids. If the bids are above the reserve, he picks the highest one and then opens the bidding to the floor at (as an example) £1K above the next highest proxy bid. The auctioneer will then bid on your behalf against the room until either you "win", or the room goes above your limit.

Enm1

FreeBear wrote: »

I've been to auctions where proxy bids have been entered (and done a couple myself). You don't get any extra brownie points for bidding in person, nor is there any special deals to be done. What normally happens with proxy bids, is the auctioneer looks at the reserve price then looks to see who has entered bids. If the bids are above the reserve, he picks the highest one and then opens the bidding to the floor at (as an example) £1K above the next highest proxy bid. The auctioneer will then bid on your behalf against the room until either you "win", or the room goes above your limit.

Thank you FreeBear - great to hear of some personal auction experience :beer: