Buying a Property at Auction

Has anyone done this before?

Would anyone have concerns about buying this way if they found a house they loved?

Now before you answer that, in the interests of transparency, I want to admit that I’ve got a professional interest in your answer.

I’ve recently started up an online property auction company, I’m not going to give the name of it as I don’t want to use this thread as an advert. I am however curious to hear people’s thoughts and perceptions of the industry.

Theres one thing in particular I’m thinking of changing that would set me apart from the other companies, I’m curious however to see if the thing I’m thinking about changing comes up in people’s thoughts at all without me mentioning what it is.

Admins, I hope this is ok however if not then just do what you need to do.

Thanks.

I've thought about this in the past but considered it too risky.

Do you get a home report on properties these days?

I think programs like “Homes under the Hammer” have glamourised buying a property at auction somewhat.
I don’t recall seeing any that have thrown up really big issues like subsidence, rising damp, wood rot etc. Also most are bought by developers or people with previous experience of doing up properties often for rental income.
So to answer your question I think everyone hopes to get a bargain but the risks of buying at auction would be too high for me.

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Originally Posted by Jack

I've thought about this in the past but considered it too risky.

Do you get a home report on properties these days?

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Thanks Jack, great answer 😃

I’ll try to answer this without it becoming a sales pitch.

Yes, you should still get Home Reports. Something to be careful of is the date of it though. Nature of the beast with auction sales it may have been on the market a long time so the home report may not be worth the paper it’s written on. That’s not always the case though, just something to be mindful of.

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Originally Posted by Alfiembra

I think programs like “Homes under the Hammer” have glamourised buying a property at auction somewhat.
I don’t recall seeing any that have thrown up really big issues like subsidence, rising damp, wood rot etc. Also most are bought by developers or people with previous experience of doing up properties often for rental income.
So to answer your question I think everyone hopes to get a bargain but the risks of buying at auction would be too high for me.

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Thanks for the response.

If you don’t mind me asking, what element of risk worries you more, ending up with a dud property or is it the auction process where by you pay a deposit and are bound by it at the point of bidding?

If it’s the dud property that worries you would that not be the same whether you bought it at auction or the open market?

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Originally Posted by bingo70

Thanks Jack, great answer 😃

I’ll try to answer this without it becoming a sales pitch.

Yes, you should still get Home Reports. Something to be careful of is the date of it though. Nature of the beast with auction sales it may have been on the market a long time so the home report may not be worth the paper it’s written on. That’s not always the case though, just something to be mindful of.

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I'm actually looking for a house just now.

Our wishes/desires/needs are quite specific mainly because we love the house we're in but we're thinking of the not too distant future, getting in to our final home while we can still be bothered with the upheaval.

If an auction property came up that fitted our our spec we would consider it.

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Originally Posted by bingo70

Thanks for the response.

If you don’t mind me asking, what element of risk worries you more, ending up with a dud property or is it the auction process where by you pay a deposit and are bound by it at the point of bidding?

If it’s the dud property that worries you would that not be the same whether you bought it at auction or the open market?

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Yeah it’s the risk of not knowing if it’s a dud or not. When you are buying on the open market it’s up to you to find out as much as you can by means of surveys and viewings, or land registry issues which your solicitor would check. Even when you have bought you have a few days grace if things like the central heating is faulty that the seller has to make good

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Originally Posted by Jack

I'm actually looking for a house just now.

Our wishes/desires/needs are quite specific mainly because we love the house we're in but we're thinking of the not too distant future, getting in to our final home while we can still be bothered with the upheaval.

If an auction property came up that fitted our our spec we would consider it.

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Is there nothing you can do to the existing house to make it closer to your ideal? Extend, and put in a helipad 😉

I know nothing about it but I'm curious.

As a student in Dundee I actually bought 2 joined up properties, rented rooms out to mates, did them up and sold them on at a very decent profit and set myself up in a decent position very early on in life. It was the sort of thing you could do in the late 90s and all I had to do was to get my Dad to be a guarantor. I've since lived in a new build flat for the past 16 years and not had any reason to move.

Having a wee girl and hoping to add to the family over the next few years I accept that I'll need to move on fairly soon so I'll be getting back into that market again.

And not being the greatest businessman in my line of work, I'm not in as rosy a financial position as some of this might suggest I should be in (I've spent the past decade seeing all my money go to pay off a big debt taken on to buy my business - then see that debt rise back up again over the past year due to covid.)

So my next step will be an important one and I'm not against a gamble of sorts if the circumstances permit.

Where would I go to find out more about it? It's "not knowing about it" that would be my biggest put off rather than anything else, although after knowing more it may still be something I would decide against.

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Originally Posted by bingo70

Has anyone done this before?

Would anyone have concerns about buying this way if they found a house they loved?

Now before you answer that, in the interests of transparency, I want to admit that I’ve got a professional interest in your answer.

I’ve recently started up an online property auction company, I’m not going to give the name of it as I don’t want to use this thread as an advert. I am however curious to hear people’s thoughts and perceptions of the industry.

Theres one thing in particular I’m thinking of changing that would set me apart from the other companies, I’m curious however to see if the thing I’m thinking about changing comes up in people’s thoughts at all without me mentioning what it is.

Admins, I hope this is ok however if not then just do what you need to do.

Thanks.

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I'd definitely consider it. As long as the home report and potential for viewing prior to completion exists then I'm not sure what the additional risk is.

Feel free to PM me your site. The biggest barrier to buying by auction at the moment is I wouldn't know where to start.

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Originally Posted by Alfiembra

Yeah it’s the risk of not knowing if it’s a dud or not. When you are buying on the open market it’s up to you to find out as much as you can by means of surveys and viewings, or land registry issues which your solicitor would check. Even when you have bought you have a few days grace if things like the central heating is faulty that the seller has to make good

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Surely you can do that before the auction? The house is still available to view and you can still do your research on it.

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Originally Posted by lord bunberry

Surely you can do that before the auction? The house is still available to view and you can still do your research on it.

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Yes, that’s right.

I’m pleased you replied as I genuinely don’t want to turn this into a sales pitch for what I do, I know that’s not what this place is for so I didn’t want to start trying to overcoming objections. 😊

The poster was right about not getting guarantees etc so there is an element of risk on that front, I suppose it’s just a case of leaving yourself a bit budget just in case something unexpected comes up.