Top questions and answers to ask an auctioneer when selling a home in Bow Common
One method of selling your Bow Common house or flat is to try an auction, where people will place price bids for your property. The aim is to have several buyers interested in your home, so that they try to outbid each other with ever-escalating prices and you make a decent profit on the sale. However, it’s important to know that some properties sold at auction do not receive any bids, meaning they do not sell, and you’ll have to start over with trying to find a buyer.
Or you may only get a bid at the reserve price — this is the lowest value at which you will accept selling your home. You must choose a value that will still produce a profit from the sale, even after you subtract whatever commission the auctioneer plans on charging you.
Note that selling via an auctioneer can take at least a couple of months, as there will be a waiting period between listing your flat or house for sale and the auction taking place. Further delays can happen after a successful sale whilst the buyer completes their required steps.
If you’re thinking about using an auctioneer to sell your property, consider calling specific companies and asking them some questions that might help with your eventual decision. We’ve provided some queries along with how to interpret the answers that you might receive.
Generally, property auctioneers will charge you commission based as a percentage of your home’s sale price, but some companies may charge more or less than this. If your home sells, it’s also worth asking whether an auctioneer will let you pass the obligation for paying certain fees on to the winning high bidder, as this might be possible with some companies.
Most auction houses give the winning high bidder 28 days from the date of the auction to complete all of their mandatory steps for finalising the purchase of your property. You can sue to enforce the sale, because a winning bid is a legally binding agreement to buy a property. Some auctioneers will set a deadline of less than 28 days, others might give buyers more time.
Auctioneers should be willing to share the details of their past sales with you, so asking this question is a great way to find out if they’ve managed to sell your exact type of home in the past. If a company tells you that they have had zero experience or success with selling your type of flat or house, it’s likelier that the auctioneer will struggle to sell your home.