Buyer Advocate at Auction

[johnpendles]

Can anyone recommend an auction buyers advocate in Adelaide?

I have never bid at an auction before and I think i'd benefit having someone else bid for me.

What does such a service normally cost?

 

[Propertunity]

Can anyone recommend an auction buyers advocate in Adelaide?
I have never bid at an auction before and I think i'd benefit having someone else bid for me.
What does such a service normally cost?

There are 2 x members of REBAA in SA that I could recommend:

http://rebaa.com.au/members/sa/

I'm not sure what they charge. But a phone call or email will confirm for you.

In NSW we (Propertunity) charge a $550 attendance fee + a $550 success fee = $1,100 all up if you win.

All the best with the auction. Alan

 

[Hypnotic Cat]

Hi john,
6 months ago after missing out on many properties I was wondering the same thing.
I looked into the idea of a buyers advocate (I live in Adelaide too) and it seemed fairly expensive. I think it can be 1 or 2% of purchase cost which is a considerable sum when added to all the other selling and purchase costs. But the amount depends on whether you want them to simply bid for you on the day or to actively search and research properties.

I can give you some general advice which I hope is helpful.

I had never bid at auction before and there was not even a guide price given, but I sat down and did my research on the property; what it last sold for, whether the place had been renovated and how much I thought the previous owners spent on renos, and what I thought would be a reasonable sale price for them, taking into account how long they owned the property.

I established a range in which I thought the property would sell for and I decided on my maximum figure that I would bid. It was a nerve wracking and emotional experience on the day but I secured the place for $20k less than my max. The sale price was smack bang in the middle of the range I estimated.

Could you appoint a trusted friend to bid on your behalf? Give them a figure which they can't exceed? It would certainly take the emotion out of the bid process.

 

[DavidTomlins]

Pricing is generally in line with what Alan (Propertunity) provided. Just remember it is a negotiation so they may be willing to move if there is future business there for them.

Stefan from Independent Property Consulting is a new buyers agent in Adelaide however yet to have any feedback/reviews on his work to provide further commentary.

 

[andrew_de_a]

There are 2 x members of REBAA in SA that I could recommend:

http://rebaa.com.au/members/sa/

I'm not sure what they charge. But a phone call or email will confirm for you.

In NSW we (Propertunity) charge a $550 attendance fee + a $550 success fee = $1,100 all up if you win.

All the best with the auction. Alan

Just out of curiosity why do you have a success fee?

 

[belvoir]

There are 2 x members of REBAA in SA that I could recommend:

http://rebaa.com.au/members/sa/

I'm not sure what they charge. But a phone call or email will confirm for you.

In NSW we (Propertunity) charge a $550 attendance fee + a $550 success fee = $1,100 all up if you win.

All the best with the auction. Alan

That is, without a doubt, absolutely ridiculous.....

No wonder you are able to spend you days on the internet forums.

However, in the grand scheme of things I guess it can be an easy sell if you tell the mugs that they are spending $500k+ that your fee is a small investment to secure the property they want.

 

[Corey Batt]

That is, without a doubt, absolutely ridiculous.....

No wonder you are able to spend you days on the internet forums.

However, in the grand scheme of things I guess it can be an easy sell if you tell the mugs that they are spending $500k+ that your fee is a small investment to secure the property they want.

Quite a reasonable and 'small' fee if you ask me. There's plenty of professions out there which earn multiples of that for the time spent on a particular job.

In the end if it wasn't a fair price, no one would be using the service.

 

[belvoir]

Quite a reasonable and 'small' fee if you ask me. There's plenty of professions out there which earn multiples of that for the time spent on a particular job.

In the end if it wasn't a fair price, no one would be using the service.

LoL 'small'

Best part is, auctions are late morning, so you wake up, take the dog for a walk, go home, sip some of that gold plated coffee, get suited up, drive to the property in that gold platted car, pass the agent the piece of paper certifying you to bid on behalf of the mug punter who hired you, stand around, put your hand up, win the auction, sign the contract and your home before lunch is on the table.

You don't need any qualifications to bid, it does not require research, it just requires you to be physically at the auction.

 

[Tyla]

Not everyone has skills or emotional detachment to be at auction. I would rather ask what BA will be offering for that fees. May be $1100 is a good price for what they have to offer.

That is, without a doubt, absolutely ridiculous.....

No wonder you are able to spend you days on the internet forums.

However, in the grand scheme of things I guess it can be an easy sell if you tell the mugs that they are spending $500k+ that your fee is a small investment to secure the property they want.

 

[Corey Batt]

LoL 'small'

Best part is, auctions are late morning, so you wake up, take the dog for a walk, go home, sip some of that gold plated coffee, get suited up, drive to the property in that gold platted car, pass the agent the piece of paper certifying you to bid on behalf of the mug punter who hired you, stand around, put your hand up, win the auction, sign the contract and your home before lunch is on the table.

You don't need any qualifications to bid, it does not require research, it just requires you to be physically at the auction.

In yet people pay money for someone else to do it. Must be something else to it.

Someone with skills knows how to not make an auction excessively hot, and to 'win'.

I didn't realise there were still people who follow the labor theory of value.

 

[Propertunity]

Just out of curiosity why do you have a success fee?

It is an incentive payment. Anybody can get paid just to show up (like a regular day job) but you have to use some skills to actually be the winner at auction, without exceeding your (the client's) limit.

Additionally, if the property gets passed in, it covers the time & skills to negotiate the purchase post auction (until midnight at least, on the day of auction).

 

[johnpendles]

Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for the replies.

$1000 is very reasonable in my view, and id happily pay the fee. although id be much happier paying it if my bidder won the auction, but that's not necessarily up to him.

For someone like myself, who has no idea about auction "tactics" or may get too emotionally involved in the bidding process, id much rather have someone else do it for me.

 

[johnpendles]

There are 2 x members of REBAA in SA that I could recommend:

http://rebaa.com.au/members/sa/

I'm not sure what they charge. But a phone call or email will confirm for you.

In NSW we (Propertunity) charge a $550 attendance fee + a $550 success fee = $1,100 all up if you win.

All the best with the auction. Alan

Thank you

I'll get in touch if need be.

 

[johnpendles]

Hi john,
6 months ago after missing out on many properties I was wondering the same thing.
I looked into the idea of a buyers advocate (I live in Adelaide too) and it seemed fairly expensive. I think it can be 1 or 2% of purchase cost which is a considerable sum when added to all the other selling and purchase costs. But the amount depends on whether you want them to simply bid for you on the day or to actively search and research properties.

I can give you some general advice which I hope is helpful.

I had never bid at auction before and there was not even a guide price given, but I sat down and did my research on the property; what it last sold for, whether the place had been renovated and how much I thought the previous owners spent on renos, and what I thought would be a reasonable sale price for them, taking into account how long they owned the property.

I established a range in which I thought the property would sell for and I decided on my maximum figure that I would bid. It was a nerve wracking and emotional experience on the day but I secured the place for $20k less than my max. The sale price was smack bang in the middle of the range I estimated.

Could you appoint a trusted friend to bid on your behalf? Give them a figure which they can't exceed? It would certainly take the emotion out of the bid process.

thanks mate.

my understanding is the 1% of purchase price fee is when you get a buyers agent to go out and find a property for you. that would be too much for me to be prepared to pay. but a $1000 for a winning auction would be reasonable. or i could do it myself??.

 

[Jaggannath]

LoL 'small'

Best part is, auctions are late morning, so you wake up, take the dog for a walk, go home, sip some of that gold plated coffee, get suited up, drive to the property in that gold platted car, pass the agent the piece of paper certifying you to bid on behalf of the mug punter who hired you, stand around, put your hand up, win the auction, sign the contract and your home before lunch is on the table.

You don't need any qualifications to bid, it does not require research, it just requires you to be physically at the auction.

If it's such easy money, do it yourself.

 

[belvoir]

Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for the replies.

$1000 is very reasonable in my view, and id happily pay the fee. although id be much happier paying it if my bidder won the auction, but that's not necessarily up to him.

For someone like myself, who has no idea about auction "tactics" or may get too emotionally involved in the bidding process, id much rather have someone else do it for me.

The whole ******** about auction tactics or strategy to win an auction is absolute crap.

If there are two people at an auction it doesn't matter if the bidding goes up in incriminates of $1, the auction will end when one of the bidders reaches their limit. Also, the legend of the so called sniper who jumps in right at the end with a single bid to win the auction is again ********.

To win at auction and not 'over pay' is to figure out how much you can spend.

During the auction just bid at $1,000 increments. If the auctioneer says no and that you need to bid at a higher price, simply tell him to come back to you when he will accept $1,000 bids. Trust me, he will come back to you. When he comes back to you and if the price is still in budget just keep bidding at $1,000 bids. It doesn't matter if it takes a long time, its an auction and your about to commit to an expensive purchase, you should be prepared to spend the day there bidding at $1,000 incriminates.

Using this tactic means you won't pay more than over $1,000 above what anyone else is willing to pay.

Work out your budget, work out what you think its worth. If your budget is more than what you think its worth then go up to your budget if you think the market is hot and is to likely go up in the immediate 12 month term.

 

[johnpendles]

thanks for the advice.

i notice it often takes a while before anyone puts in the first bid? is this because everyone wants the home to be passed in so they can negotiate afterwards?

is it best to just stay silent until the bidding begins?

 

[Propertunity]

thanks for the advice.

Sadly, some of the "advice" given in this thread I personally would not follow. But hey, I've only purchased many 100's of properties, and a lot of them at auction, so what would I know?

i notice it often takes a while before anyone puts in the first bid? is this because everyone wants the home to be passed in so they can negotiate afterwards?

Possibly, but in this market, it is a complete waste of time.

is it best to just stay silent until the bidding begins?

Not in my view. Personally I have no difficulty opening the bidding .....and closing it. I generally don't start the bidding, but I will if it drags on - I get bored easily and I generally have more properties to look at afterwards. It's not the only thing I do on a Saturday

Have a read of this thread (which is one of many on the topic):
http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70253

 

[johnpendles]

Thanks a lot

cheers

 

[D.T.]

The whole ******** about auction tactics or strategy to win an auction is absolute crap.

Have you only been to auctions held inside a textbook?