Search the Community

Good afternoon, We find ourselves in quite a bizarre situation and would really appreciate any advice that might be out there. - Today we placed bids on an online auction for a BTL property. We won the auction with a bid of £127,000. Once bidding went over £125,000 we received an email and on-screen prompt to confirm that our bid met the reserve price and the property would be sold to the highest bidder. - At the end of the auction we received an email to confirm that we were the highest bidders and that we had 'won'. - The email states that they would try to take our £5000 reservation fee. They appear to have been successful. - We subsequently received a call from the auctioneers telling us that in fact we had NOT met the reserve for the property, but that they were giving us the first opportunity to put in a bid of £134k to secure it. They said there had been a 'technical glitch.' Does anyone know what our legal rights are in this regard? We intend to hold the auctioneers to the contract. If the virtual hammer had fallen and we'd cited a technical glitch and tried to secure the property for £7k less, we'd be laughed out of town! Expecting to discuss this in detail with them tomorrow, so would love any advice or to hear from anyone with experience of this. Thanks, Chris

Hi. I am interested to know peoples views on the Modern method Auction and specifically the fees. I am looking to purchase a property that is being marketed by the Modern Method of Auction. It is a cash purchase and I have offered £65k prior to the auction. The guide price is £70k. The estate agents legally have to present this offer to the vendor. However I have noticed the auction house state that the reservation fee of a minimum of £6000 plus vat or 4% of the purchase price (which ever is higher) is still payable even if the property is sold prior to the auction. These modern auction fees seem high anyway and it seems wrong that they can charge these fees as opposed to the usual 1.5% a seller would pay if the property does not go to auction.

Hi everyone, I'm just starting out and this is my first Property Hub post so hello Obviously auction houses can sell properties from all over the country and not just nearby but I was wondering whether anyone has come across any that regularly sell properties in the Peterborough area? I'm struggling to find any auctioneers that cover that area... potentially because I'm looking in the wrong place or because not many properties come up via auction in the first place in Peterborough? Any advice would be very welcome Thanks! Abby

Hello Everyone! I read Rich Dad Poor Dad 15 years back, then life got in the way and a great career in financial services that brought(born in South Africa) me to London in 2004. About 6 years ago I bought my first investment property off plan at the complete top of the market in 2008. This has become a most valuable lesson for me as the initial incredibly tough time of negotiation in getting the deal completed meant I have learned a lot very early in my property investment career. It is only till about 8 months ago that I truly started to get into gear to really think about building passive income from my property portfolio with the goal of financial freedom in 5 years. My first step was to put together a mastermind group of like minded individuals(friends) with the aim of drawing together our intellectual and financial resources. Once this group was established, I have prioritised my own personal development in the topic of Property Investing. Even thought I will always have a mind set of openness and willingness to learn new ways of understanding current and developing market trends like the upcoming pensions reform, my knowledge is at a level were I am comfortable with the strategy I have formulated and confident in taking action to execute it. Throughout 2015 I will be buying BTL single let properties with development potential at BMV through a limited company SPV at actions and pre-auctions. My target is to grow the portfolio by £1m over the next 12 months. I look forward to learning from all of you and be a valuable contributor to this forum. Best VanZyl 0786 336 0279 vanzylvh@gmail.com

This week we’re featuring another interview we recorded at the Property Investor Show – this time, R&R are talking auctions with Rob Marchant from Clive Emson auctioneers. Rob tells us how best to prepare for an auction in advance, if it’s really still possible to find a bargain in a post-Homes Under The Hammer world, and whether investors should consider selling at auction too. http://thepropertypodcast.com/2016/05/tpp166-auctions-from-pis/

Hi Originally from the North West but also spent time as a kid in North East but then lived and worked in Birmingham & London before stints in Hong Kong, Malaysia & now Singapore Dabbled in BTL for quite a while but never had the time to take it seriously while building a more conventional corporate career. Set myself a goal of making time in 2015 and now moving from the early research phase into more serious planning and then action later in the summer. Many questions still to be asked re location, tax, building a team, financing, flipping vs BTL or combination of the two etc etc. Looking forward to meeting up with a few of you at the PH Summit in London on 26th July. In the meantime, does anyone out there have good knowledge or contacts in the Banbury/Bicester (M40 J10-J6 corridor) for Agents, Auctions, Trades, Solicitors etc Similarly If any of you have any questions re Singapore or Asia in general I'll be happy to help if I can - but don't look at the property prices in SG - it'll make your eyes water ! Tim

Hi Everyone, I have only just dicovered the Property Hub and am working my way through the podcasts. What an advantage this technology is!! I'm here becasue I want to get foucused and really do some research instead of being impulsive! I have experienced renovating 2 properties, one was taken back to a shell and the other not far off. The last one was a fail from a finacial view point. I have learned some painful lessons with that one and now want to move on and move up and never let that happen again. I really dont think I can to buy to let at this moment in time as I want to make some money back and I don't have a day job so getting a mortgage is not going to happen. I would however like to do this at some point. I want to flip as many poperties as I can with the capital I have as quickly as I can and not loose a penny ever again, big ask I know!! I'm hoping to deepen my knowledge of how to buy below market value among many other things. I'd also be interested to learn tips for buying at Auction. I have read though a few posts on here already and am learning loads, thankyou all so much!!! I'm also wondering about the wisdom of buying in areas not local to me that may experience more growth than Bristol (which is pricey). I just don't like the thought of not knowing the area. Anyway nice to meet you all! I'm going to get back to reading more on here. Best wishes Nicky