Have you ever sold a property using one of the main national property auctions?

[Deleted User]

I'm considering selling a house I own at auction. The house doesn't have a kitchen and therefore suitable for a buyer who doesn't need a mortgage. Do you happen to know if the rates that the auction houses charge can be negotiated at all? Please send a private message to me if you prefer the answer not to be disclosed on a public forum.
Are there any things you'd recommend that I do to the property or during the creation of the legal pack to help it achieve the best possible price? 
In some cases can prices at auction be similar to what you'd be able to obtain via an estate agent?

theartfullodger

In answer to the subject, No.


Bought one though.  A bargain, bought 2000, still own it........

TBG01

These are questions to ask the auctioneer.

davemorton

Put a basic kitchen in, I believe you may just need a sink for it to be mortgage-able. 

eddddy

Even though it's not mortgageable, you might still take a big hit on the price.

A lot of cash buyers aren't comfortable buying at auction, and buyers who are also selling can't buy at auction. So that reduces the competition.

Another approach is 'informal tender' or 'sealed bid' using a regular estate agent. They list the property for maybe 2, 3 or 4 weeks with a guide price and saying "cash buyers only".

At the end of the period, you take a look at all the bids - and you can accept the one that looks best. (Or reject them all, if none are good enough.)



But as above, doing just enough work to make it mortgageable might be a good idea.

london21

Never been a seller.

Avoid modern method Auction.

Traditional auction
 used Mchugh and Co as a buyer. (Mine was during the stamp duty holiday went for slightly higher but still cheaper than EA, would not have passed mortgage due to ownership which is slightly hidden, no kitchen will be mainly cash buyers)
A relative had experience with Auction house recently. 

Contact auctioneer companies.

The buyer's usually pay fees which includes seller's legal fees, the auctioneer company help with the process getting legal packs etc. 

You will not get the highest due to mortgage buyers been eliminated, would be mainly investors or those with cash. 

IamWood

theartfullodger said:

In answer to the subject, No.


Bought one though.  A bargain, bought 2000, still own it........

To satisfy my curiosity, what's the market value now?

[Deleted User]

Thank you for all of your kind replies. I'm signing up with a well known residential property auctioneer this week and I've not asked for a discount on the fees - does anybody think it would be potentially worth while and likely?
I agree with the points made about people being able to get a mortgage if you do the basics and put in a sink etc but there's additional work as the kitchen is a shell so  there's other things which need doing such as plastering, electrics, upstairs bathroom etc etc and I also want to get a concrete sale in good time.

Edited: Spelling

youth_leader

Good luck, I hope you have a lot of viewers and it is a live auction. My house needed renovation but I sold to a mortgage buyer, he asked to extend the completion to eight weeks, rather than the four I'd signed up for.

I did negotiate the fee down but still paid a huge £6,600 on my £275,000 sale, it is a very expensive way to sell, .  Be prepared for a viewer to arrange a survey, although I'd moved into rented I'd kept the minimum there so the rooms were dressed,  I was cross not to be informed.

theartfullodger

IamWood said:

theartfullodger said:

In answer to the subject, No.


Bought one though.  A bargain, bought 2000, still own it........

To satisfy my curiosity, what's the market value now?

Bought £18.5k, now probably £105k(?).  2 bed terrace + garden & garage.
Went to auction, never having seen inside it (drove past), bought for cash.

Rented out almost all the time since 2000, no mortgage on it, views of sea lochs & mountains, .. - taken from front room March 2014

- 25 mtrs from open hillside...

See Proudhon - 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_is_theft!

[Deleted User]

youth_leader said:

Good luck, I hope you have a lot of viewers and it is a live auction. My house needed renovation but I sold to a mortgage buyer, he asked to extend the completion to eight weeks, rather than the four I'd signed up for.

I did negotiate the fee down but still paid a huge £6,600 on my £275,000 sale, it is a very expensive way to sell, .  Be prepared for a viewer to arrange a survey, although I'd moved into rented I'd kept the minimum there so the rooms were dressed,  I was cross not to be informed.

Thank you for your reply youth_leader. Could I ask you if you don't mind what type of percentage did you pay in terms of a percentage of sale price? They do seem to be fairly expensive but that's part of the territory I presume in terms of getting a solid and secure sale that won't be likely to fall through.