If you are considering buying a new property in the Shepherds Bush area of London then you will soon realise how expensive property gets the closer you get to the heart of London. This may be making you consider whether you can afford to buy a new home there, this is where auctions may be able to help you.
Buying at an auction is much quicker than the conventional methods of buying property, cutting out all of the usual delays and concerns with property buying, furthermore, you may be able to get your ideal property at a reduced price saving you a lot of money and making the idea of your move more realistic.
Before you rush to the first auction you can find and start bidding, familiarise yourself with auctions, how they work and what you need to do, here are some tips and bits of information:
Go to some auction houses and view the process of the auction, they will use a different way of speaking, property jargon, get used to it and learn to understand it. Speak to as many people as you can, ideally people that have experience of buying property at auction, ask them questions and listen to their mistakes so that you can avoid the same pitfalls.
When you feel comfortable that you understand the processes of the auction itself, decide which of the auction houses you want to go to and get a catalogue which will show you all of the properties that they are going to be auctioning. This catalogue will show you photographs of the property as well as details about the property and the price it is listed at, go through the catalogue and see if there are any that you like. If there are one or two properties that stand out to you, then you can arrange a viewing with the seller and see the house for yourself.
If you view a home and like it enough to want to bid on it, then there are a few things that you need to do before the date of the auction. This includes:
• Deposit: you will need to pay a deposit on the property on the day of the auction if you were to win the bidding, therefore you will need to make sure you have enough money in the bank available to you. If you do not have the deposit, the property will either go to the net highest bidder or be re-auctioned.
• Getting your solicitor to look at the auctioneer’s catalogue, asking them to read the details of the property and the terms and conditions of sale. Your solicitor will also need to look over the legal pack that they will receive from the solicitor working for the seller and conduct some research and searches to prove the information accurate. The legal pack includes various kinds of information including things like the title deeds to the property.
• Before you go the auction give yourself a budget, don’t let yourself get carried away and bid more than you can comfortably afford. Take into consider all the other charges associated with buying property, like solicitors charges, valuation fees etc.
• Contact a mortgage provider and get a loan from them to purchase the property, after the auction date you will have only 28 days to get this money transferred to the seller, and 28 days is not long enough to apply for and be granted a mortgage.
If you view the home and like it you may be anxious and be wishing you could put in an offer straight away, well you can. If the house is listed in the catalogue as ‘unless previously sold’, it means the seller may decide to sell the property before the day of the auction. If the house you like is listed as such you should consider making an offer before someone else beats you to it.
