Property Auction

• FORUM
• Email this
  to a friend
  

• Submit Your
  Own Prices
  
  
• Sign Up to
  Our Newsletter

by: Tukshad Engineer

Do you know that every year thousands of UK properties and homes are sold at significantly below their real market value? The majority of these properties and homes are released through property auctions where regular savings of between 10% to 40% are available to the households market value. Even so, these property auctions continue to be used only by the elite and for the astute buyer/investor this generates a fantastic opportunity to secure a dream home/good investment at bargain basement prices.

As an example, at a recent property auction a studio flat was sold in London for a mere £9,000. In another, a 2 bed flat right on the south coast with a market value of around  £100,000 went for just £14,000 at auction. And those are just a couple of examples of the bargains that people do find at property auctions. However it's also important to know the potential issues and problems when dealing with auctions and to understand exactly where the best deals are available. If you're interested in getting into the world of property auctions the following tips & tricks of the trade should be very helpful.

More House Buying Information

TYPES OF PROPERTIES FOUND AT AUCTIONS

UK Property Auctions Home Contact

This is a guide to help anyone unlock the financial gain possible through UK Property Auctions. Thousands of homes are available at any given time with property auctions, most of which are sold at prices far below the household's market value. However it's important to know that there are potential issues and problems when dealing with auctions and to understand where the biggest bargains are available. Details of thousands of cheap, repossessed & auction properties are also available at Property Auction Bargains.

Its perfectly reasonable to expect to pay between 15% to 40% less for a property at auction than you would for the same property through an estate agent.

TYPES OF PROPERTIES FOUND AT AUCTIONS

Household Repossessions - Sadly for the previous owners, repossessions can often be picked up at bargain prices through auctions.

Investment properties - Properties, which are valued due to the return on investment that they provide. Includes everything from individual office/shop investments to blocks of flats.

Rundown properties - Auctions are great places to pickup properties that are unsaleable in their current state. The attraction here is if you can get such a property in a good location at a cheap price it's perfectly possible to refurbish and resell on at handsome profits. Indeed there are individuals and organisations that make their living doing this. Unsaleable properties usually come under the following categories:

• Derelict or in derelict areas.
• Subject to severe disrepair.
• Subject to local authority notices.
• Subject to closing orders.
• Offered with ambiguous legal titles.
• Sold without access.
• Sold with major fencing, paving, drainage or other similar responsibilities.
• Sold subject to covenants or restrictions, which prevent normal use.
• Exceptional properties - Include ones that have historical meaning and plots which 'get in the way' of major development projects.

TYPES OF PROPERTY AUCTION

Large property auction composite - Tend to have over 100 lots. Expect well over 300 people to attend and the venue to be held in a large hotel or conference centre. Large composite auctions are likely to be run by a single auction house. The type of property may be restricted to just one (e.g. vacant possession houses, factories, house repossessions, warehouses etc) or may be a mixture of different types.

Medium composite auction- Have between 5 to 100 lots and will typically attract between 200 to 500 people, most likely in a hotel or conference centre. It's similar to a large composite, only on a smaller scale.

Small composite auction- Offer between 2 to 5 lots and will attract upto 5 bidders. The likely venue is likely to be somewhere like a pub, restaurant, church or small hotel. Small auctions will generally follow a theme - for example the properties involved may have been part of a bigger group (such as a portfolio of properties owned by one company) who believe the best returns will be obtained by offering the properties for sale individually.

Single lot auction- usually for a house that is in great demand.

IDENTIFYING HOUSE AUCTIONS

Property auctions aren't as easy to find as you would imagine. Traditionally auctioneers get more than enough interest from in-the-know regulars so they don't need to spend much money on expensive advertising to the public. This is where the list of auction houses that comes with this guide becomes invaluable. There are details on each auction house including which area the auction house covers. Go through the list and identify ones, which cover the areas you are interested in. Then you should:

Phone the auction house and ask them when their next auction is most likely to be held. Ask is you can be put on a mailing list, which details upcoming auctions. Some auction houses may charge a small fee for this, others offer the service for free.

Prepare a list of questions for each auction house you contact. These should include:

• Do you have a mailing/emailing list?
• How long do you keep people on your mailing lists and will you let me know if I am about to be removed?
• What type of properties do you like to auction?

It may also be worth subscribing to certain pedigree property magazines. These include Property Auction News, Under The Hammer and Property Week. Local newsagents usually carry these.

THE INFORMATION AN AUCTIONEER WILL PROVIDE

Obviously they will provide the details of the properties going under the hammer at their auctions. These tend to be more detailed than the snippets given by estate agents (there are laws such as the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 which make it illegal for auctioneers to give false information about a property). On the whole, for any given lot they will provide:

• Property Location
• Construction details
• Tenure (e.g. freehold)
• Accommodation details (e.g. 3 bedrooms etc)
• Notes (e.g. refurbishment required)
• Viewing details
• Solicitor details

Auctioneers usually publish a catalogue with the lot details - this is a book detailing the various properties available at auction. These will usually be available a month or less prior to the auction date.

IDENTIFYING HOUSE REPOSSESSIONS

Some banks/building societies can be sheepish about revealing that they are selling repossessed properties so you need to be alert in the auction for clues. Auction adverts may reveal that a bank may be the seller of a number of properties, or the auction catalogue may state a phrase such as 'on instruction of a liquidator' or something similar - this should tell you that the property being sold is a repossession. If you are unsure, ask the auctioneer directly if the lot being offered is a repossession.

FINDING PROPERTY AUCTIONS NEAR YOU

There are several thousands of properties available for auction at any given time all over the UK. It's important to understand how auctions work before purchasing a property from one. To find out where you can get hold of a list of UK property auction venues and websites of auction properties for sale take a look at my resource box below. I wish you every success in finding your dream bargain home at auction

Mortgage Best Buy Tables

Whatprice have teamed up with Moneyextra to produce up to date Mortgage Best Buy tables

Find 30,000 Dirt Cheap UK Properties At Auction Immediately: http://www.global-ebooks.com/Property_Auction_Bargains.htm

Subscribe to the Online Powerpack newsletter & discover the biggest discounts available anywhere for just about everything! Send an email to tukshad@global-ebooks.com