Selling FAQ

When you are the successful bidder at an auction, the terms of the sale mean that you are buying without any conditions. That means, you don’t need time for your finance to be approved and you don’t have another property to sell first. So when the hammer drops the sale is immediately unconditional.

There is no cooling-off period as there usually is with a standard private treaty contract. You can’t change your mind!

• Arrange your finance – remember it will be a cash contract and not subject to obtaining finance
• Inspect the property – including professional building, pest, pool inspections as required
• Research the market
• Obtain legal advice if needed
• Get a property valuation
• Get a copy of the contract
• Find out how much deposit you’ll need to have on the day and how the agent would like you to pay
• Set a budget for your bids on the day
• Register to bid with the selling agent before the auction begins.

It’s illegal for the agent or the seller to provide a price guide for an auction property. This is because they actually can’t know how high the bidding could go.

With the seller’s approval, the agent could give you a comparative market analysis (CMA). This document will have a list of similar properties in the area that have sold, so that you may draw your own conclusions about price.

It’s the minimum price the seller will accept for the property. The reserve is set before the auction and prevents the property from being sold too cheaply or for an unacceptable price. An auctioneer is not allowed to tell you what the reserve price is, but during the auction he may reveal at a certain point that the property is “on the market” this means that the reserve has been reached and the property will sell to the highest bidder from this point onwards.

There are two ways. Either by telephone bid with an agent relaying your bids to the auctioneer, or by appointing a representative to bid for you and sign the contract on your behalf. Both ways require forms to be submitted before the auction to the seller’s agent. You can find the forms you need below

Telephone Bids Form

Bid For And On Behalf Of Another Party Form

Matthews Real Estate works with 5% of the purchase price as the required deposit at the fall of the hammer. This needs to be paid immediately following the auction, or proof of bank transfer provided in the same time frame.