Property Auction Blogs

Auction News : Auctions Can Yield a Bargain

With house prices now out of reach for many - despite signs the marketplace is getting slow down in some areas - buyers have to look harder for bargains. One alternative that we have is to buy at property auctions. A glance through the daytime television schedules reveals that Britain is in the grip of auction fever, with programmes such as Bargain Hunt, Cash in the Attic and Flog It highlighting our love of a bargain. This love affair shows no signs of narrowing. More number of people is now looking to the auction room as a means of getting their feet on the property ladder. Buying at auction accounts for an expected 5pc and rising of all property transactions, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors now. Recent figures from online property database Focus show the worth of residential properties sold at auction during the first six months of 2003 rose 12pc to 612m, helped by a 19.5pc increase in the average value of residential lots to 113,599.

Buying at property auction echoes like a dream, particularly as the traditional technique takes an average of 12 weeks from the day an offer is accepted until contracts are exchanged. At that time, buyers can be gazumped or sellers may decide to stay put and chains break. A big gain for saleroom buyers is that once the auctioneer's hammer falls, the property belongs to them and neither the property auctioneers nor the seller can pull out. The buyer hands over a deposit and may move in within 28 days. Around 25,000 properties now go to auction every year at more than 200 auction houses nationwide. Although there has been a decrease in the number of auctions being held as the property market has picked up and fewer homes are being repossessed, they are still going. The reason why auctions still produce mark-downs is simple. Most properties being sold at auction are there for one reason. But despite the financial advantages of buying property at auction, many people are cautious of doing so. Not for the faint-hearted, an auction room is an unfamiliar environment for most and is certainly not a conservative way to buy a home.

A property auction is not like a lamb sale where a sneeze will buy you a whole flock. A more common problem is request for the wrong lot. Make sure you know exactly which lot you want and which lot the auctioneer is taking bids on. You should also make sure that the property is still up for auction and hasn't been sold privately. So it need be no more risky than buying through an estate agent while buying at auction will be nerve-wracking. The only difference is that the selling price will be determined by the amount of competition bidders are prepared to offer. Most people who can buy property at auction are cash buyers already have finance available. But some inexperienced buyers do venture into the auction market. The auction catalogues are released for two to four weeks usually before the sale and give a guide to prices, so you will know roughly how much you need. The key point to remember about this pre-auction planning is that all of the paperwork, surveys, searches, and financing must be carried out before the auction itself. But one of the major advantages is that the purchase goes through very quickly, therefore you bypass problems like chains or a long wait while the vendor finds a suitable property to move in an easy way.

posted by property auctioneers @ 4:48 AM  

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Property auctions