Property Auctions - Grab Your Dream UK Home On The Cheap

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Did you know that every year thousands of UK properties are sold at
significantly below market value? The majority of these properties are
released through property auctions where regular savings of between 10%
to 40% are available to market value. Even so, 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.

For example, at a recent 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 upto £100,000 sold 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 below tips & tricks of the trade
should be very helpful.

TYPES OF PROPERTIES FOUND AT AUCTIONS

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UK Property Auctions Home Contact

The following is a guide to help anyone unlock the value available
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 market value. However it's important to know the 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. For example, at a recent 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 upto £100,000 sold for just £14,000 at
auction. And those are just a couple of examples of the many bargains
that people find at property auctions each and every week.

TYPES OF PROPERTIES FOUND AT AUCTIONS

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 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 AUCTION

Large 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, warehouses etc) or may be a mixture
of different types.

Medium composite – 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 – 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 – usually for a property that is in great demand.

IDENTIFYING AUCTIONS

Auctions aren’t as easy to find as you might expect. Traditionally
auctioneers get more than enough interest from in-the-know regulars so
they don’t need to spend much money on costly advertising to the public.
Here’s 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:

Phone the auction house and ask them when their next auction is likely
to be held.
Ask them to put you on a mailing list, which details forthcoming
auctions. Some 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 list?

How long do you keep people on your mailing lists and can you let me
know if I am about to be removed?

What type of properties do you 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:

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 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

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