You’ve spent several months house hunting and now it’s time to get down to business. Your dream home is up for auction this Saturday at 2:00pm.

So what do you need to know?

1. Please, please, please make sure you have pre-approval prior to attending and bidding at any auction! If you don’t and you are the successful bidder, you could still be liable for the contract and face large penalties. So it is absolutely crucial that you have finance in place in advance.  
2. Unlike buying through sale, there is no cooling off period (usually 5 days) if you buy at auction. So timing is of the essence. You are still going to need to carry out the standard inspections and have the contract of sale reviewed in advance so that you know exactly what you are buying. We can help you with both of these things.
3. If you are the successful bidder, then contracts are signed on the spot and you must pay the deposit immediately (usually 10%) as opposed to on exchange if you were buying through conventional sale. The balance is then paid on the agreed settlement date (usually 6 weeks).
4. You must inspect the property and be happy with it before the start of the auction. As there is no cooling off period, if you are the successful bidder, you won’t be able to inspect the property after the auction. So make sure you inspect, inspect, inspect!
5. Show us the contract as early as possible before the auction so that we can review it for you, provide you with advice on it, and organise any amendments with the vendor in advance.
6. You won’t know the reserve price for the property until that amount has been reached during the auction itself. So be prepared to miss out and stick to a ‘walk-away’ price, no matter how much you fall in love with the property. Accept that the property just wasn’t meant to be and it is better to walk away from it now than to over-commit to a property that you’ve been emotionally blinded by. We promise that there will be an even better property waiting for you just around the corner!
   

Don’t attend the auction this weekend without speaking to one of our expert property lawyers or licensed conveyancers today.  

Good luck and happy bidding!