How to buy a property at an auction

We are building surveyors with a wealth of experience in property. We personally have bought at auction, both for companies and for ourselves (in fact we have never bought a house from an estate agent!). We offer a structural survey service on either a one-off property, if you are just looking at one specific property at an auction, or we can offer a day with a surveyor where you can have verbal advice as you go along or, at the end of the day or the next day, a written report in an agreed time scale.

We still attend auctions from time to time and would be happy to meet you at an auction room, if you so wish. For a free no obligation friendly chat please call 0800 298 5424.

Frequently asked questions about auctions

What do we need to know about buying at auction?

First of all we would recommend you get hold of a copy of the catalogue. You can either do this on line or have a paper copy sent to you. There are various property related magazines that advertise auctions and they can always be found in the Internet. We would always recommend that you go and have a look at the property, whether it is a home or an investment. We recently had a lady book us for a survey. She went to have a look at the property the week before and decided she didn't want to proceed and we were more than happy to give her credit for when she does find the property she wants.

If we bid at the auction and win when would we have to pay?

It is most important to get your finances in place. Auction houses have many different systems but most will want payment in the form of deposit immediately and full payment of the property within an agreed time, which is normally relatively short.

We are looking at several properties, although we only intend to buy one in

the auction. Will we be charged for many structural surveys?

In a word, no. If you go for a verbal report you will simply be charged the day rate for the surveyor. However, once you have purchased the property you may then want a written report and you will be charged for producing that report.

We know it makes sense to have a structural surveyor look at the property .

but we don't want waste money in case we don't win it in the auction. This may be the best money that you have ever wasted because the structural problems were identified. Equally, it may enable you to have the edge over bidding with another person if you fully understand the risks involved.

There is very little time between now and the auction, will a surveyor be

able to produce a structural survey in time?

This depends just how much time, we can do an express service in two to three days, depending upon where the property is, the size of it, the workload etc, or we can often offer a next day verbal explanation of the issues, which will be a great help to you.

We have produced the following articles about buying and selling at auction which you may find interesting:

Buying property at an auction

Buying a commercial property at an auction

Buying off market -v- buying at auction

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from surveyors with regard to buying at auction then please phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat,

If you want to buy a commercial property these are also sold at auction and we can help you with this. Properties can be sold both freehold and leasehold. We can explain a great deal more about the commercial side of property on our other website www.FirstAssociated.co.uk . We also have a Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and if it is going wrong we also have a website for Disputes at www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

The contents of the web site are for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision.

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