What is This? (Feature in auction property)

Bonniepurple

The mind boggles.  It could be a fish pond, a hot tub, a baptismal pool, sheep dip, bear pit….

Actually, looking at the outbuildings, I wonder if it’s a DIY health spa.

user1977

I did have a look at the legal pack in case there were any clues there, but nothing odd in the planning or building regs history.

So I will go for it being the shaft down to an (unauthorised) nuclear bunker.

RHemmings

annabanana82 said:

Is it this man's house? 

It makes me feel more like this:

eddddy

The house also has a 'strange' sales history... It looks like this:

On 23rd November 2013 it sold for £122,500 


On 14th December 2023 it looks like it sold at auction: Guide price £20k+  Sold For: £172k
https://www.bondwolfe.com/auctions/properties/229228-property-auction-willenhall/

On 27th March 2024 it's back in the auction again: Guide price £20k+
https://www.bondwolfe.com/auctions/properties/238078-property-auction-willenhall/



Selling at the14th Dec auction and back in the 27 Mar auction suggests that the buyer might have failed to complete 
(Or somebody bought it and immediately decided to re-sell - but buying for £172k and putting it back in with a guide of £20k would be strange.)

RHemmings

eddddy said:

The house also has a 'strange' sales history... It looks like this:

On 23rd November 2013 it sold for £122,500 


On 14th December 2023 it looks like it sold at auction: Guide price £20k+  Sold For: £172k
https://www.bondwolfe.com/auctions/properties/229228-property-auction-willenhall/

On 27th March 2024 it's back in the auction again: Guide price £20k+
https://www.bondwolfe.com/auctions/properties/238078-property-auction-willenhall/



Selling at the14th Dec auction and back in the 27 Mar auction suggests that the buyer might have failed to complete 
(Or somebody bought it and immediately decided to re-sell - but buying for £172k and putting it back in with a guide of £20k would be strange.)

The online reviews of Bond Wolfe are interesting. The official TrustPilot profile has good ratings and feedback, but sometimes TrustPilot official profiles are 'managed'. 

Reading other reviews, it seems that many sellers are satisifed with the sellers. Poor reviews tend to be from buyers. Some aren't familiar with the massive fees, but other report other problems. Noting that properties sell and then reappear in later auctions. There was one report that a seller's solicitor refused to start work on the property until two weeks before the completion date. Of course, claims in reviews aren't proof. 

Personally I find it concerning that the high fees mean that the auction house gets their cut on the sale of the house, and it seems to be to their advantage if the property fails to complete and then can be sold again. I've seen mention of an expensive 'seller's premium', e.g. £8000. What is that? And, who gets to keep (or share out) the 10% deposit if a property fails to complete? 

I thought that in a traditional auction the sale completes on the fall of the gavel. So, how can there be completion dates? When I said it was traditional auction upthread, it appears that I was wrong. What is this business? 

user1977

You thunk wrong. Exchange is on the fall of the gavel. Completion is generally a few weeks later.

RHemmings

user1977 said:

You thunk wrong. Exchange is on the fall of the gavel. Completion is generally a few weeks later.

Thanks. I got confused there. Of course completion doesn't happen before funds are transferred to the seller, and on auction day only the 10% deposit is.

Reading through reviews, it seems to be quite common among negative reviews for buyers to complain that the process becomes long and completion fails. I don't know in what percentage of cases overall there are such problems.

Reading through the buyers' FAQ, it seems that only overseas buyers need to provide the buyer's fees, plus 10% of their maximum bid before auction day. (So, I was wrong again further upthread.) However, online bidders have to pay the minimum deposit of £5000 plus buying fees of £1920 before bidding. 

eddddy

RHemmings said:

Reading through reviews, it seems to be quite common among negative reviews for buyers to complain that the process becomes long and completion fails. I don't know in what percentage of cases overall there are such problems.

Looking at their T&Cs, they suggest they are very standard for unconditional auctions.

Completion is nothing to do with the auction house - that's a process between the buyer's solicitor and seller's solicitor.

In simple terms, if a completion doesn't happen after an unconditional auction, it will almost always be the buyer's fault.  


But if an auction house is getting a lot of failed completions by 'amateur' buyers, perhaps they should be giving clearer warnings. Maybe like: "If you are not a 'property professional' and/or you have not purchased at auction before, do not bid until you have consulted a solicitor."

lfc321

Unsure, but the closest thing I have ever seen to that was a chemical tank for dipping doors into to strip the paint off. But difficult to understand why that would be in such a domestic dwelling (although from the 360 tour of the property  it looks like it must be in an outbuilding, not the actual house?).

GDB2222

RHemmings said:

user1977 said:

You thunk wrong. Exchange is on the fall of the gavel. Completion is generally a few weeks later.

Thanks. I got confused there. Of course completion doesn't happen before funds are transferred to the seller, and on auction day only the 10% deposit is.

Reading through reviews, it seems to be quite common among negative reviews for buyers to complain that the process becomes long and completion fails. I don't know in what percentage of cases overall there are such problems.

Reading through the buyers' FAQ, it seems that only overseas buyers need to provide the buyer's fees, plus 10% of their maximum bid before auction day. (So, I was wrong again further upthread.) However, online bidders have to pay the minimum deposit of £5000 plus buying fees of £1920 before bidding. 

I don't really see what buyers are complaining about. By winning the auction, they have already exchanged contracts. So, all that's needed is for the buyer to pay the money and the seller to sign the TR1. 

"There was one report that a seller's solicitor refused to start work on the property until two weeks before the completion date."

Two weeks is plenty of time. What work should the seller's solicitor be doing?  I suspect that the disgruntled buyers didn't understand the auction process properly.