Selling - Open market or modern method of auction(MMoA)

RHemmings

SusieT said:

If I saw MMOA I would not bother looking at that property. What will normally happen is the estate agent will get their fee which is often higher than an open market fee, the buyer will lose that amount if the sale does not go through, and the seller will get less because the buyer will deduct the amount from their offer as it will reduce their deposit, and therefore the mortgage available. The only winner is the agent

I bought a MMOA property because I wanted that house. (And now I have it.) I didn't buy by MMOA but made an offer to buy the house on the condition that it was sold by private treaty, not MMOA. I did not pay a non-refundable reservation fee. 

Personally I think that there is the opportunity to get some bargains using the method I did. In my case I was t'd off that there was this house sitting there that I wanted failing to sell for a price I could afford and there were no non-MMOA alternatives. 

eddddy

Thejedimaster said:

I have signed up with an online house auction site with the modern method of auction. I’m looking into pulling out and not paying the £600 fee or be liable for the other costs. They have not done any work as they used the photos of the house from the advert of a well known online EA they are in alliance with. Anyone know if I have the right to cancel & don’t pay the fee please. 

The starting point would be to read the contract terms that you have agreed to.  But here are a couple of comments that may be relevant...

You probably have a 14 day 'cooling off period" - so if the contract started within the last 14 days, you should be able to cancel it.  But you will be liable for any costs incurred. (There are probably other costs - not just the cost of photos.)


But if, for example, you are pulling out because you've received an offer - you definitely need to read the contract carefully. You could be liable for the auction house's full fee.

queenofrandom

RHemmings said:

SusieT said:

If I saw MMOA I would not bother looking at that property. What will normally happen is the estate agent will get their fee which is often higher than an open market fee, the buyer will lose that amount if the sale does not go through, and the seller will get less because the buyer will deduct the amount from their offer as it will reduce their deposit, and therefore the mortgage available. The only winner is the agent

I bought a MMOA property because I wanted that house. (And now I have it.) I didn't buy by MMOA but made an offer to buy the house on the condition that it was sold by private treaty, not MMOA. I did not pay a non-refundable reservation fee. 

Personally I think that there is the opportunity to get some bargains using the method I did. In my case I was t'd off that there was this house sitting there that I wanted failing to sell for a price I could afford and there were no non-MMOA alternatives. 

Did you do that by approaching the agent or the vendor? I am in a similar situation, but will not use the MMoA. It's been on the market nearly a year with a price decrease last October.

eddddy

queenofrandom said:

Did you do that by approaching the agent or the vendor? I am in a similar situation, but will not use the MMoA. It's been on the market nearly a year with a price decrease last October.

I'd say that's more of a tactical decision.

If you can get the auction house / estate agent to agree to your plan and on your side (that you don't pay any fees until completion)...
... then they can present it positively to the seller.

(The estate agent originally persuaded the seller to go with MMOA, so maybe they can persuade the seller to go with your different plan.)


But if the seller's relationship with the Estate Agent has deteriorated because they haven't been able to sell for a year, the seller might prefer to deal with you directly, and ignore the agent. (But the seller will still have to pay the full MMOA fees on completion.)

RHemmings

queenofrandom said:

RHemmings said:

SusieT said:

If I saw MMOA I would not bother looking at that property. What will normally happen is the estate agent will get their fee which is often higher than an open market fee, the buyer will lose that amount if the sale does not go through, and the seller will get less because the buyer will deduct the amount from their offer as it will reduce their deposit, and therefore the mortgage available. The only winner is the agent

I bought a MMOA property because I wanted that house. (And now I have it.) I didn't buy by MMOA but made an offer to buy the house on the condition that it was sold by private treaty, not MMOA. I did not pay a non-refundable reservation fee. 

Personally I think that there is the opportunity to get some bargains using the method I did. In my case I was t'd off that there was this house sitting there that I wanted failing to sell for a price I could afford and there were no non-MMOA alternatives. 

Did you do that by approaching the agent or the vendor? I am in a similar situation, but will not use the MMoA. It's been on the market nearly a year with a price decrease last October.

I sent my offer to the local estate agent who were partnering with a major MMoA company for the sale. It worked. Be prepared for pressure for you to go the MMoA route. I chose to send my offer within seconds of the property failing to sell (again) without a single bid. Whether that made a difference or not, I don't know. But, I think it was a good time to send it. Have you read every word of the auction pack? I know there are a lot of them. I also used the exact words 'by private treaty', in my offer and again in hindsight I think that was good. 

If anyone says to you that it's not possible to buy it by private treaty as it's currently up for MMoA, then please talk to me. I would *love* to end up on a group phone call when someone is telling you or another potential buyer that it has to be MMoA or nothing. Unfortunately I'm in Bali at the moment, but I'd be happy to help. Of course, the vendor may refuse to sell by this method, but because they are contracted in the EAs and the MMoA company will receive a big chunk of money if it sells by any method. So, they may well be on your side (eventually) if it's otherwise sitting around not selling. 

I've got a policy of not disclosing the MMoA company that I used in the open forum. I will do so by PM. 

theartfullodger

Those claiming a "Modern method of auction" should be prosecuted under contract terms  (IMHO).

RHemmings

theartfullodger said:

Those claiming a "Modern method of auction" should be prosecuted under contract terms  (IMHO).

The basic concept of delayed completion to allow buyers to get a mortgage is, I think, a reasonable one. However, greedy organisations got involved and decided that it would work the way that they wanted it to, and not be reasonable for buyers. Hence, it doesn't really function as a whole as one important group in the process is not catered for properly. (Despite what EAs in a very well known national chain claimed to me.) Though, I don't think it's a simple matter to redesign the process to work better overall - there are lots of possible consequences of various models. 

Before in another thread someone was suggesting that MMoA does work in parts of the country, with lots of bids. But, I haven't seen that in the several places around the country (including London) that I've looked. 

TL;DR: It doesn't work - except for possibly managing the expectations of sellers downwards when they have a low starting bid and still they don't get even a single bid. 

queenofrandom

RHemmings said:

queenofrandom said:

RHemmings said:

SusieT said:

If I saw MMOA I would not bother looking at that property. What will normally happen is the estate agent will get their fee which is often higher than an open market fee, the buyer will lose that amount if the sale does not go through, and the seller will get less because the buyer will deduct the amount from their offer as it will reduce their deposit, and therefore the mortgage available. The only winner is the agent

I bought a MMOA property because I wanted that house. (And now I have it.) I didn't buy by MMOA but made an offer to buy the house on the condition that it was sold by private treaty, not MMOA. I did not pay a non-refundable reservation fee. 

Personally I think that there is the opportunity to get some bargains using the method I did. In my case I was t'd off that there was this house sitting there that I wanted failing to sell for a price I could afford and there were no non-MMOA alternatives. 

Did you do that by approaching the agent or the vendor? I am in a similar situation, but will not use the MMoA. It's been on the market nearly a year with a price decrease last October.

I sent my offer to the local estate agent who were partnering with a major MMoA company for the sale. It worked. Be prepared for pressure for you to go the MMoA route. I chose to send my offer within seconds of the property failing to sell (again) without a single bid. Whether that made a difference or not, I don't know. But, I think it was a good time to send it. Have you read every word of the auction pack? I know there are a lot of them. I also used the exact words 'by private treaty', in my offer and again in hindsight I think that was good. 

If anyone says to you that it's not possible to buy it by private treaty as it's currently up for MMoA, then please talk to me. I would *love* to end up on a group phone call when someone is telling you or another potential buyer that it has to be MMoA or nothing. Unfortunately I'm in Bali at the moment, but I'd be happy to help. Of course, the vendor may refuse to sell by this method, but because they are contracted in the EAs and the MMoA company will receive a big chunk of money if it sells by any method. So, they may well be on your side (eventually) if it's otherwise sitting around not selling. 

I've got a policy of not disclosing the MMoA company that I used in the open forum. I will do so by PM. 

I have, though I was tired so plan to reread it all. We are viewing the property Friday and I can make a better assessment of the house itself then. If we do like it I will put my offer in writing and make sure I write by private treaty in the email. 

I am quite stubborn and drive a hard bargain as it is so I feel confident in getting it at the price I want and not MMoA but thanks for the offer! If it comes to it I will PM! I have an idea of what MMoA it may be, as there is one that crops up a lot haha. 

RHemmings

queenofrandom said:

RHemmings said:

queenofrandom said:

RHemmings said:

SusieT said:

If I saw MMOA I would not bother looking at that property. What will normally happen is the estate agent will get their fee which is often higher than an open market fee, the buyer will lose that amount if the sale does not go through, and the seller will get less because the buyer will deduct the amount from their offer as it will reduce their deposit, and therefore the mortgage available. The only winner is the agent

I bought a MMOA property because I wanted that house. (And now I have it.) I didn't buy by MMOA but made an offer to buy the house on the condition that it was sold by private treaty, not MMOA. I did not pay a non-refundable reservation fee. 

Personally I think that there is the opportunity to get some bargains using the method I did. In my case I was t'd off that there was this house sitting there that I wanted failing to sell for a price I could afford and there were no non-MMOA alternatives. 

Did you do that by approaching the agent or the vendor? I am in a similar situation, but will not use the MMoA. It's been on the market nearly a year with a price decrease last October.

I sent my offer to the local estate agent who were partnering with a major MMoA company for the sale. It worked. Be prepared for pressure for you to go the MMoA route. I chose to send my offer within seconds of the property failing to sell (again) without a single bid. Whether that made a difference or not, I don't know. But, I think it was a good time to send it. Have you read every word of the auction pack? I know there are a lot of them. I also used the exact words 'by private treaty', in my offer and again in hindsight I think that was good. 

If anyone says to you that it's not possible to buy it by private treaty as it's currently up for MMoA, then please talk to me. I would *love* to end up on a group phone call when someone is telling you or another potential buyer that it has to be MMoA or nothing. Unfortunately I'm in Bali at the moment, but I'd be happy to help. Of course, the vendor may refuse to sell by this method, but because they are contracted in the EAs and the MMoA company will receive a big chunk of money if it sells by any method. So, they may well be on your side (eventually) if it's otherwise sitting around not selling. 

I've got a policy of not disclosing the MMoA company that I used in the open forum. I will do so by PM. 

I have, though I was tired so plan to reread it all. We are viewing the property Friday and I can make a better assessment of the house itself then. If we do like it I will put my offer in writing and make sure I write by private treaty in the email. 

I am quite stubborn and drive a hard bargain as it is so I feel confident in getting it at the price I want and not MMoA but thanks for the offer! If it comes to it I will PM! I have an idea of what MMoA it may be, as there is one that crops up a lot haha. 

One thing I'll point out: Of course I didn't pay the non-refundable reservation fee. But, I did pay the £300 for the auction pack that (a bit unfairly in my eyes) the buyer pays for. I made the decision to pay that because it was the first thing that I was asked to pay, and I decided that I wanted to 'show willing' and that I was serious. At that time I was still not expecting the purchase to actually happen, but considered it a worthwhile risk. 

eddddy

RHemmings said:

But, I did pay the £300 for the auction pack that (a bit unfairly in my eyes) the buyer pays for. 

@queenofrandom says that the property they're interested in has been on the market for nearly a year - so the auction pack is likely to be out of date. Searches will need to be re-done, and other info might be out of date.