Anyone brought a house from auction?? Can you share experiences

[AsTheoryShows]

My husband and I are looking to move towards our land that we own and run a business on, we see that we have two options, buy near it, though houses are expensive there, or build. A house in drastic need of repair has come up near the land and selling through auction - we've never brought through an auction and with family support should have the finance to buy outright. Could anyone else share their experiences and is there any way of being able to estimate what it may go for?

Yes, I've bought six times at auction always in London where the guide prices are no indication whatsoever of what the properties will sell for. In big auctions, the properties that come first in the running tend to be the honeypot lots that they hope will attract a lot of attention and runaway prices so it's worth seeing where the property falls in the list. When you visit, see how many other people are looking around and ask the people who are there to open up the property how much interest there has been (these people are usually not auction employees but just people they bung a few quid to open up for them) - they are normally quite chatty.

I don't know what else I can tell you. Has the house been marketed on the open market at all? If the guide price is, say, £200k and the price through an estate agency was £300k, then that will give you an idea that the bidding is unlikely to go beyond £250-60k because otherwise the owners would have taken an offer. Have you seen the property - is it blighted in any way that is likely to put normal punters off?

The property is basically derelict, though is a rural three bed house in a nice village. It is listed last in the auction and being sold solely through probate by the auctioneers so will not accept early offers either. I could pm you the link for a view?

We are pretty naïve in this and want it as a family home rather than an investment but it feels like a minefield!

You need to take a surveyor or at least a very savvy builder around it to view first so you know what you're getting in to.

We are viewing it next week with a surveyor and a builder
Just feels a bit of a scary way of doing things!

I think it will all depend on how realistic the guide price is - whether it is set purposefully low to draw people in - and whether you are in an area where, generally, there is a lot of property development and speculation because of a shortage of good family homes. A lot of auction lots are in a real state so that won't necessarily put people off - does the plot have development potential: is the price such that the house could be knocked down and several built on the site? Clearly that would make it interesting to developers. However, if the house is in a conservation area or somewhere in which getting planning consent for a major development or even a large extension would be difficult, that would put them off.

It is grade ii listed and unlikely to get large extension or planning on plot I would think - but is attractive as a do it up family home, though it really is in a state and will take about a year to get it livable at least according tot a builder friend. He reckoned it would do well for family home, but developers/ investors would be put off by listing and lack of huge profit margin to be made... but as you say it all comes down to the day!!

Yes, the listing will definitely put people off. Good luck - let us know how it goes.