Property Auctioning

When buying or selling a property by auction, the conveyancing process is different from that of a normal sale.

In an auction, when a successful bid is accepted, then it is considered contractually binding, meaning the buyer will have to be committed to the sale from thereon. The buyer will not have any time to make enquiries with mortgage lenders, conveyancing solicitors and property surveyors after a successful bid has been accepted, to later decide whether or not to fully commit to the purchase. Here, the successful bidder must complete the purchase whether or not any such enquiries have been made. Once an auction bid is accepted, a 10% deposit of the purchase price will have to go to the auctioneers immediately. Furthermore, auction sales can be subject to certain conditions of sale, which mean you will have limited time (normally 4 weeks) to complete your purchase. This will mean that the buyer will have limited time to ensure that the correct finances are in place and all the checks have been completed. Buyers can also lose their deposit if they fail to complete within the required timeframe.

Therefore, buyers are advised to be careful when considering a property on auction as more often than not, there are a lot of underlying issues which may only come to light after a purchase bid has been accepted.

Generally speaking, those selling houses in auctions have little knowledge of the property itself as you often get a lot of repossessed homes and those sold by executors of someone’s will. In some cases, a bid has been accepted on a house, but then the buyer runs into problems when obtaining a mortgage because there are problems in the title deeds.

This is where you need Vanstone Law Law Solicitors. We are here to conduct all the right searches and make all the appropriate enquiries to allow you to enter a bid, fully informed. We will make sure we go over the property title deeds, ensure there are no serious problems with the property itself, read through the conditions of sale over with a fine-comb and discuss any issues which we feel you should be made aware of. If the property already has a sales pack with searches already included, then we will happily review it for you.

Selling at an Auction

Selling via auction can be an effective way of getting rid of a property without any delays. When acting for you, Vanstone Law solicitors can help compile all the necessary information for your potential bidders.

You will want to get maximum interest in the property so that buyers can be tempted to make a bid and you can secure a quick sale. Vanstone Law knows time is of the essence in a situation like this and when acting for you, we will make sure completion takes place as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

We can assist in preparing sales packs for you so that buyers can have all the information readily available to make a confident bid in your property. The more detailed the sales pack, the more interest your property should generate and we can advise you on exactly what to include to determine this.