TELLYADDICT1

Hi all,
apologies if this question has been done to death and I've missed it.

We've been looking at properties for sale on-line but are unfamiliar with auctions. The estate agents give an estimated price in their guide. Is this a realistic price or is it set low to encourage interest? (For example, in some cities in Scotland you have to offer 20-25% over the asking price to get your house.)

Any advice would be appreciated,
Thanks,
TA

louie

Virtually every unit that we followed online in the Lower North Shore in Sydney went for about 20% above the agent's "estimate" (in fact, the one we bought went for 20% over to the penny!). I don't know whether that is normal countrywide or just applied in a small area of Sydney though, things in Melbourne might be completely different.

shaton

I would say at present you could expect 30-40%, possibly more. The house we bought when for over 35% more than the listed price.

TELLYADDICT1

Thanks guys, that's really helpful. Housing markets can be difficult.

TA

walaj

I've just come back from an aution that we bid at - I know the area well, I know what properties have sold for in the area, what condition they were in, yet there was a bidding war and this just pushed the selling price ridiculously above the REA guide, reserve (which IMO was on the high side anyway), and more than better properties recently sold in the area.

You can't just apply a certain %, as different REA have different approaches, vendors expectation with prices and level of competition when you turn up at the auction, with people whom just keep bidding higher appearing to forget any max bid they might have set beforehand.

Note that regulations vary from state to state & my experience is in NSW

shaton

Tellyaddict,

You can see what's for sale by post code here:
http://www.domain.com.au/?s_rid=theage:topnav

You can set various criteria including accommodation type, price range, etc.

On Wednesday evening here Melbourne time you can find out what things sold for, here:
http://www.homepriceguide.com.au/sat...rne_domain.pdf

You can then guage how much more (or less) property is going for. In some cases prices are not quoted (both before and after the sale), but you can find out a price by setting different ranges on for sale searches and on some agents' web sites, eg Jellis Craig, they will show comparison properties that give the selling price.

I could write a lot more about the whole process, we have recent experience of specific suburbs in Melbourne, but this would be off topic of this thread - maybe covered elsewhere.

Jaycee1

This is quite helpful regarding what to do:
http://www.jenman.com.au/BS_Auctions.php#Auction2
J x

TELLYADDICT1

Hi, that's great, thanks.

You may live to regret that! Expect me to pick you brains at regular intervals.

TA

TELLYADDICT1

You're a star, thanks

shaton

I would agree with most of this, in particular tell the agents NOTHING, don't tell them what you're interested in, where you're looking, what your budget is - NOTHING. They act for the "vendor" (read seller in the UK), don't take advice from them and find the properties you want through the net, not ones they tell you about (assuming you're here).

If you're doing this remotely you need a buyer's advocate, they act for you, know the "game" inside out and will guide you through all the pitfalls.

shaton

here's a recent article that gives a pretty good overview of buying a house at auction:
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Arti...heage:Homepage

TELLYADDICT1

Thanks again shaton
I hadn't considered pre-auction offers
Have some karma
TA

northerner

That is a very, VERY useful website. Very interesting reading.

Thanks for the link.

Graham

railman2404

very good information thanks

@boy

Correct. That has also been reconfirmed in the latest findings.

Auction ads hammered
November 29, 2007
http://www.theage.com.au/news/nation...036983567.html

A survey of 378 auction results by The Age found that over the past two weekends, the difference between the advertised and final sale price was, on average, 20.7%, despite laws protecting consumers from underquoting and misleading conduct. The latest survey follows six weeks of surveys by The Age in April and May, which found similar results. Then, the average difference was 21.2%.