"Modern Method of Auction" - two questions

[InnumerableHerbs]

I wondered whether anyone with knowledge of MMOA could answer two questions.

1. If a house is being sold by MMOA does it mean by default there is something significantly wrong with it, such as structural issues, short leasehold, bordering commercial land etc.
2. Is there anything to prevent you (or is there any point) making an offer in the traditional way and telling the EA you are prepared only to buy in the traditional way.

For background, this is a house I really like the look of, it's been on the market for nearly a year, reduced last summer. I am downsizing so will be paying off my mortgage and not taking out another, but the purchase of the new house will be contingent on the sale of the old one.

The house itself looks to have been completely refurbished and is being sold empty - I would guess bought to do up and sell on - but no property sale history is showing online. Online details say it's freehold but I'm sceptical of that because the one next to it (terrace) is leasehold.

Any advice gratefully taken on board.

I can only comment on your first question as this is how I sold my mum’s house when she moved into a home. We used this method as we didn’t want to be stuck in a long chain with a risk of it all going wrong at the last minute. By using the auction we were guaranteed that we would finish the whole sale process within a predetermined timescale. There was nothing wrong with the house we just needed it sorted as I live 100’s of miles away.

Thank you, that's useful to know - I can totally understand why you'd need it sorted out quickly. It's not relevant to my house purchase but my sister and I will be looking at a similar scenario with my parents' house in the not too distant future (we are managing with visiting carers at the moment but not sure how long that will be viable), so useful info from that point of view as well.

No it doesn’t mean there is something wrong with the house. It just means the seller has been talked into selling the house that way by the estate agent (because the EA earns a lot more money from MMOA than traditional sales.)

Nothing to stop you making an offer in the traditional way. Make sure you do it in writing and make it clear you will not engage with the MMOA terms, and the offer is based on a sale by private treaty only.

The seller may be reluctant, because they then become responsible for paying the massive fees that would normally be charged to the buyer. However that’s their problem for trying to sell by this ridiculous method in the first place.

You seem to already know this, but in no circumstances ever buy a house through MMOA.

Thank you. Yes, given that I have a house to sell it would be madness to buy through MMOA so if that was all they were prepared to consider I would walk away. It might be OK for cash buyers/investors/buy to let market.

Given the length of time it has been on the market it would seem ridiculous of them to insist on MMOA but who knows.

Regarding MMOA, I would not expect the "sticker price" to be the price the vendor wants, so I always ignore MMOA listings on RM as I have no real indication of what will be acceptable. It's just an EA scam to generate more fees. If people really need to sell quickly then there are traditional auctions they can use.

That's a good point. The sticker price is £130 and my budget is up to £200 - I'm up north for context - so there is leeway, but (as with most houses in my budget) there would be compromises, so for this one I wouldn't want to go massively over the sticker price. I haven't viewed it yet - my main purpose at this stage was to establish if there's any point - what I don't want to do is view it, fall in love with it and then end up on a train somewhere I don't really want to go because I have let my heart rule my head.

Sell your house and then proceed to buy the other house. The whole point of MMOA is to avoid chains.

I don't want to risk having nowhere to go if I sell mine, and can't find another one to move into!