Anyone bought a house at auction?

[TheBlonde]

we have seen something that might suit us but it's going to be auctioned v soon

if you have bought at auction how did you sort out a survey? do you just take the surveyor to one of the general viewing appts?

You ring the agent and view in advance adn can also have a survey in advance too.You need to have all your finances ready to go because you need 10% deposit on the day and teh fees aswell.In 30 days you complete so your mortgage must be pre arranged or you can lose a lot of money. Most auction properties I have seen do block viewings hth

thanks, yes we have the viewings schedule

I bought at auction and didn't bother with survey - flat was in such a state, I knew we would have to do everything to it and we budgeted for that. Most auction houses will give surveyors keys to view at convenient time on understanding that they will visit property alone and not take potential bidders along.

Be warned that the guide prices are a bit of a tease - there to get people through door and, especially for desirable properties, may bear no relation to selling price. Also bear in mind that many are sold because there is some defect with lease or legalities so you will need to get your solicitor to have a good look at legal pack (although these aren't always available until last minute and then some unscrupulous developers hide the important stuff).

If you have time, it's worth attending a couple of auctions before bidding to get an idea of prices, how they work (auctioneers are fantastic at getting people to keep bidding - they are almost hypnotic).

Thanks for the tips

bump

anyone?

What sort of information are you after Blonde? If you have something specific then maybe I can answer it for you but can't think of anything else that would fall under general stuff.

I was just after any other personal anecdotes... good, bad, disastrous etc

However given further thought the house isn't in quite the right location so unless I win the lottery this weekend we will not be bidding