Modern method of auction properties

[NotARegularMum]

Hi All. I'm just wondering if anyone has had any experience of buying a house through the modern method of auction? I have read up about it and people all seem quite negative, but has anyone bought a property in this way?

Also if there was a house marketed this way, has anyone been able to refuse to do this and then buy the property via the traditional method?

Thanks

No help but honestly this really gets my goat at the moment. It is such a con.

There is no 'modern method' of auction. An auction is an auction and this just seems a way to cream more fees off the buyer. It seems very favoured towards the seller.

I would just go into it with your eyes open and find out EXACTLY how much you are paying, and how that would compare to a similar property being sold in the traditional way.

I don't imagine that you will be able to buy the property out of auction as the sellers will have entered a contract with the agents. You could always try an offer while they are still in the pre-auction marketing phase but it may be that they have already signed a binding contract.
With ref to the fees mentioned in the post above it depends on the property. I believe there is a choice for the sellers to either pay fees or pass them all on to the buyer. If they have chosen the latter then it is clearly stated and you should just factor that in to your budget (as everyone else who is interested in the house will be doing). I think in principle the way of selling is a good idea - lots of information up front and shorter timescales.

Thank you for your reply. I find the whole concept utterly ridiculous.

I have just seen the house has gone up for sale with another estate agent who is using the traditional method. They have no viewing slots available for the next week.
Luckily the estate agent using the 'modern method' have viewings available so have booked a viewing with them. Hopefully I'll be able to use the other estate agents to actually buy with if it goes that far!

What is the modern method?

Money is paid up front which doesn't form part of the payment for the house.

It's a way for an estate agent to cream fees even if the property isn't sold.

If the vendor doesn't like the bids, they can pull òut and all prospective buyers lose the fees they've paid.

www.bradleysonlineauction.co.uk/how-we-are-different/the-modern-method-of-auction

The only party this method seems to benefit is the recipient of the 8 grand or whatever it is fee. In my old village that would make the 50k doer upper cost almost as much as the 60k house in decent condition.

I haven't seen that before. So basically what you are "buying" at auction for the agent's fee is exclusivity to investigate the title, have a survey etc rather than either buying blind or paying for a survey on a property you may not win at auction.

Houses sold at auction have a minimum price of purchase, if this is not achieved the property does not sell. If the property is sold you will need to pay the auction house a few. Plus there Will be other costs for solicitor, stamp duty etc. Some auction houses say that all money must be exchanged by say 28 days. So there is no chain. You need to read the terms and conditions carefully, because there will be fines to pay for late payments. Suggest go to some auctions and watch or view in real time on line. Do your research carefully. Property is probably the biggest purchase that you will make in your lifetime

Not few - fee ! So if a property sells for £60 k you will need 60k plus auction fee, plus solicitors fees etc

You're effectively buying into a very slow auction with no guarantee of any other bidders and no guarantee of successfully 'winning' the house.

Even if you do 'win', you have to find the 10% deposit for the mortgage, get a mortgage in place and all the rest of the hassle of buying a house.

Sorry, posted too soon

If you don't win, you don't see the money you've already paid ever again.

We looked at at buying a property, which was to be sold through the "modern method of auction" at an additional cost of £28,000 to the lucky winner! As far as I can tell, once you win the auction, you are obliged to pay regardless of what your solicitor, surveyor, etc might advise you afterwards. It is not like a normal sale where all of the checks are routinely done in advance of contracts being exchanged.

Needless to say they have now run the auction twice without any bids either time. I'm surprised the vendors are putting up with this nonsense.

Honestly, this is such a con. I'd love to know how the EAs spin this to vendors.

There was a house near me for sale. Started at 260k (overpriced), reduced to 230k (also overpriced) and sold via MMOA for 210k (about right IMO). How did the EA spin that to the vendors to sell via MMOA rather than just dropping the price to 210 and selling the normal way. I am baffled.

I think it is massively pushing the limits of trade descriptions by even calling it an auction. I wonder what trading standards would make of it?