5 Key Auction Tips

Welcome to my final installment in this series of Auction articles. Over the last month you should have developed a more comprehensive understanding of the auction process. To finish it off, let's take a look at how to prepare a good strategy for auction day. Here are my top seven tips:

This week I share with you one of the selling agents' tricks of the trade when it comes to selling via auction. I frequently get asked - `Why are auctions becoming a more popular method of selling property?' I believe it's because a lot of selling agents enjoy the set timeframe and the additional control that they have as part of an auction campaign over both buyers and sellers. In addition, auctions usually have a larger marketing budget which is used to advertise the property - a spin-off is that the individual selling agent and their real estate agency gains extra publicity.

Observing and understanding the often subconscious, psychological factors that influence bidding is part of my business. It helps me to get the best deals at auctions for my clients. The psychology of auctions is absolutely fascinating and it's something that all bidders should be aware of before auction day. Why? I hear you ask. It's because auctions are highly emotional environments where a bidder's focus, reason and common sense can easily be lost momentarily costing them thousands.

If want to buy well at auction then ask yourself this important question. How do you work out the value of a property up for auction so that you know where to set your bidding limit? The answer is `research, research, research'. There are no shortcuts here, research is the key to knowing the true value of any property and is absolutely essential in order to make sure that you purchase a good property for a fair price.

Before you can even start thinking about buying well at auction you need to take some time to fully understand what the auction process actually involves. Put simply, a property auction is a public sale by a licensed auctioneer where the property is sold to the highest bidder, providing the reserve price is met.

An auction takes place under unique fair trade and legal conditions when compared to a private treaty sale. These conditions vary across Australia and it is advisable to check the rules that apply in your state or territory by contacting your local Office of Fair Trading.