Hi, it’s Tiron from Newcastle Buyers Agent. I’ve got some tips for you today on buying at auction.
Firstly, be prepared. Make sure you’ve had the contract reviewed by an independent conveyancer or solicitor.
Make sure that you understand the terms and the finality of the contract and if you do need to renegotiate some of them, make sure that you’ve had that done with plenty of time before the auction.
Make sure you’ve got the deposit ready. On the day, you will have to pay a deposit after the hammer has fallen as soon as practicable.
Make sure you’ve also had an independent building and pest reports carried out. I also suggest electrical inspections as well. These are some of the most expensive things to rectify in a property and you need to know what you’re buying before you start bidding.
One of the other things that I recommend is, be present. Make sure you can make it to the auction. If you can’t, you should appoint an independent person. This isn’t someone who works at the agency even if they offer a free service to bid at auction for you, you can’t be certain that they will be acting in your best interests. In fact they are being paid by the vendor. A buyers agent only charges around $550 including GST to attend an auction, the average bid at auction is a lot higher than that, so to ensure you have someone protecting your money and best interests, engage the services of a buyers agent. Otherwise its advisable that you consider getting someone independent to represent you on auction day. This will require you to sign some paperwork so this person is authorised to bid on your behalf on auction day.
Make sure if you have a budget that you stick to it because if the property doesn’t value up or is beyond what you can afford, you could potentially lose the 10% deposit and find yourself in a bit of strife. The buyers agent will hold you accountable to your budget and ensure you don’t exceed that.
If you are going to bid at auction on your own, make sure that you’re persistent. What I find that when bidding at auction, is if you’re persistent and respond to another bid quickly and confidently, you tend to knock the wind out of the sails of the other purchaser.
Position yourself so that you can see all the other bidders and that way you might be able to read their body language or see when they might be close to their maximum bid. Some bidders may wait until the property is declared on the market before they’ll actually make a bid. If you’re unsure about where the property is sitting in relation to that reserve, just ask the question, “Is the property on the market?”
Don’t be disappointed if you miss out, if someone is prepared to pay much more than your maximum, its not meant to be.
If you need help buying at auction, drop me a line today.
