Auctions are an incredibly popular form of buying a property, and for good reason! It’s exciting, it’s fast and it can score you a bargain. But not everyone knows as much as they should before they step up to auction. It’s not as easy as finding the right loan through a mortgage broker – winning auctions are more of an art than a science.
So, to give you a hand in getting those house keys, here’s a quick crash course on ways of winning before, during and after the auction.
Make a pre-auction offer
Pre-auction offers, if available, can result in a win before the day even arrives, if you know how to use them. In a best case scenario, if your offer is accepted, you’ll find that no other buyers want to beat your bid and you win by default. Of course, this can also mean that you bid too high initially and missed out on a bargain.
However, so long as you set it at about 80 per cent of your walk-away price, you’ve still spent less than you were intending – we would call that a win!
The traditional way
Of course, there is always the method that gets everyone going to an auction in the first place: the excitement of open cry. The key to winning a property at auction (other than deeper pockets than everyone else) is just to be confident, cool, calm and collected.
Don’t fall into the trap of getting overly emotional and spending more than you wanted just to win: you’ll just end up suffering some serious buyer’s remorse.
Get negotiating
If the property fails to meet its reserve, you might find the vendor is a little bit more willing to go to negotiation. Particularly effective if there wasn’t much interest in the property in the first place, negotiation is an excellent way to win the property without the pressure of the auction competition.
Remember, regardless of the method you choose, ensure you get approval for a home loan before you step into the auction arena. There’s no sale with no capital!