House Buying at Auction

[jocelyn plummer]

My son has identified a cottage in which he is interested, it is due to be auctioned very shortly.

He has actual cash in the bank and has worked out a comprehensive list of works and knows exactly how much he can afford. However, as his hard earned saving and budget is tight, he is not sure whether to risk being the unsuccesful bidder and therefore wasting the cost of a pre auction survey or whether to bid up to his purchase price ( leaving him approx 35K to carry out the renovations) and then have the survey done after purchase, safe in the knowledge that the house is actually his.

He has plenty of experience and we have already spotted the necessary roof, chimney, window, floor problems etc and wrapped them into the renovation budget. The only unknown quantity is the rafters underneath the gently undulating roof, in case that needs a more expensive structural approach

He wont' be tempted to go on bidding above his limit, he's used to auctions and we have checked the sale prices of the houses in the postcode area. We do know that a cash offer has been turned down by the Vendor in favour of awaiting the auction.

The problem with auctions is that you could 'waste' a lot of cash investigating and then not being the successful bidder. and there is no way of telling which way things could go in house auctions, neither do we know this particular auctioneer, or anything about his technique , so we do not know what happens in the area when these little gems come up. There is usually a pattern.

Any tips would be much appreciated.

We are talking about 2 up, 2 down, with upstairs bathroom, '& sun room,'
completely hidden by what was a lovely garden at one time. Been lived in since the '30's by the same person. So not a huge sq. ft.area.

Looking forward to your comments.!!

 

[inwood]

In my experience even a full structural survey will rarely show up all the problems you're likely to find in an old property (and as was the case with ours show up problems that don't even exist!). However it always depends on the persons experience with old properties/building techniques, etc.

From your other posts I think you've got a reasonable amount of experience with old houses and I suspect you've already identified most of the issues.

Since it's a small property I would approach it in the way you have and look at getting a qualified structural engineer to report on any specifics such as the roof trusses you've already highlighted. It will give you a more focused result for much less money. Alternatively some building control officers can be very helpful when being speculative on properties - always worth a call to see if they can help.

 

[Gervase]

Seconded. Unless the surveyor is one of the rare band who specialist in older properties, a bog-standard full structural survey will generally swallow up £500 and state the bleedin' obvious.
It's more than likely that your son is in a better position to survey the house than most local surveyors, and if he has already had a chance to inspect the roof, chimney and floors, there isn't a huge amount else that could be lurking in wait for him (Though, being an old house, there almost certainly will be!).

 

[Penners]

Has your son considered making a pre-auction offer for the property, subject to survey? Sometimes the prospect of a guaranteed buyer at a good price will tempt the vendor into cancelling the auction.

The worst that can happen is that the vendor will refuse, and your son will have to attend the auction as planned.

Other than that, I totally agree with what's been said above.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks Folks,

That's pretty much what I told him, so it really is down to deciding whether the odds are worth it whilst living on bread and cheese for the next few months!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

We have found a well respected local surveyer who will do a walk around the property with us for a very reasonable figure , so far so good-- that is, after I recovered from shock at the price of the pre auction pack!

 

[Penners]

shock at the price of the pre auction pack!

What does it contain? If it's like a HIP and has things like local searches, and so on, perhaps it will save you money at the other end, prior to completion of the the deal (always assuming your son gets it, of course).

Oh no! I think I've just made positive noises about a HIP!

 

[skier-hughes]

Oh no! I think I've just made positive noises about a HIP!

Doomed to eternal damnation wa ha ha haaaaa

 

[Penners]

Doomed to eternal damnation

That happened decades ago. I was condemned to spend my life trying to stop one house after another falling to bits around my ears.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Yes, the pre auction pack does contain searches etc. There will be a resultant rush to our Solicitors to read through everything prior to auction date-- approx 7 working days. Fee refundable if successful at auction.

 

[Penners]

Well, at least the money is buying something.

Fingers crossed for your son. Is the house anywhere near the Holy Land?

 

[Moo]

I do hope you've finished your own house, Joss. Because you do realise, don't you, that once your son has his own property you'll be spending many happy days (or weeks, or months...) giving him the benefit of your expertise and muscle.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Hopefully it will be a two way effort! I'll do the easy bits in his house and he can do the difficult bits in mine!

Joss

 

[Moo]

Now that's what I call a sensible arrangement.

Where did I go wrong?

 

[Penners]

Where did I go wrong?

Add me to that question.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Maybe its something to do with what comes out of the Aga!------, but then again, maybe I am just lucky.

 

[Penners]

Aha! The way to a man's heart....