Do I have a chance or am I being ridiculous

[MilkSweatAndTears]

Accepted an offer on my house a month ago to a cash buyer .

Have found nothing apart from one house which ticks all boxes apart from one small thing - it’s going to traditional auction

Now here me out…

Nothing about the property leads me to believe it’s unmortgageable , it has a kitchen barroom etc and looks to be pretty good nick . An elderly person has clearly passed away .

It was at Auction with a guide price £225,000 didn’t sell and now a guide price 190000 for auction next month . Now I know the guide price means nothing and is usually the bare minimum a seller will accept , but I have this idea of calling the agent , finding out why it’s at auction and putting forward an offer of 190,000 to buy it outside of auction . Buying it at auction not an option for me . I can’t move as fast as an auction buyer but I’m chain free so the next best thing right ? I do have my mortgage and solicitor in place and we have a good deposit .

Are they ever going to go for this ? Is the agent going to laugh me off of the phone ?

Do I need to let this one go?

The worst they can do is say no. It's always worth a try.

And if it doesn't go at auction, they may come back to you.

With properties if its the one for you and you have nothing to lose, its always worth a try!

The vendor may think they can get the bidding up at the auction beyond the £190K, but OTOH they might save some money on fees (not to mention the risk of it not selling again, and the general stress of an auction).

As the PP says, no harm in asking. If you really like it and think it's a steal, you could always up your offer if they say no at first.

You absolutely must give it a go!

Definitely give it a go. Bear in mind, though, that the guide price/starting price is often lower than the reserve. They may well be looking for more than £190k.

Yes give it a go! What’s your upper limit?

We were going to sell land and possibly a property by auction last year. The auctioneer initially said x for a guide price, then lowered it to y because he said it would tempt more people/interest. The reserve would have been set quite a bit higher. So no I wouldn’t have sold at the lower guide price.

Any idea what the highest bid was on it last time it went to auction?

I think the only issue with you buying at auction with a mortgage is that completion is normally within 28 days and it's whether your lender can meet that timeframe. If they need to value the property that may cause a delay. Auction conditions will still apply even if your offer is prior to the actual auction taking place (although sometime you may be able to extend the completion timeframe). You have to pay your 10% deposit when the bid is accepted so you are legally committed from that point on. You may want to speak to the auctioneer and find out as much info in regards to that as possible.

Was just going to say the exact same thing @Onthemarket2024 said.

Regardless of if you get an offer accepted pre or post auction it will still be sold via auction terms, the auction contract and follow the same process.

I am personally anti auction as I’ve had a bad experience of it but if you want to go ahead I advise speaking to the auctioneer to find out - why it’s being sold at auction,

• are they aware of any issues that they know will make it unmortgageable? ( I will get this conversation recorded)
• ask them to send a ta6 property form
• ask if you were to put an offer of say 190k what are the chances of getting it accepted?
• If you’re good with the answer, carry out your own structural survey
• take your survey and property information form to your lender to be sure they’ll approve lending on it
• send the auction pack to a solicitor to read through
• if it’s all great then officially place your bid.

It’s a tiny expense as opposed to it all going wrong and possibly end up in court. This happened to me and I wish someone advised me better.
Just don’t bid on a property without doing your own inspection and survey regardless of if you’re a cash buyer as it will help you make a better informed bid/decision.
Once that bid has been accepted you are contractually bound to the property.