My top three auction strategy tips…
As a Brisbane buyer’s agent, I attend auctions most weekends. And I still gain insight from every one of them.
At auctions, the emotions are high, the agents are frantic and the buyers are nervous. This is understandable as many buyers don’t even know how to bid at auction. The only seemingly calm influence is the auctioneer who has all the lines and all the power. The larger the auction the more of these factors I see.
This process has led me to think about the mindset and emotions at play and how they impact the auction result. The sales agent and auctioneer are usually the only ones with experience of the auction process. This means that the everyday home buyer who wants to buy a house, for perhaps the first time, is at a huge disadvantage.
How do we as the buyers avoid getting caught up in the emotional pitfalls of an auction campaign? And finally how can we learn how to bid at auction successfully?
There’s one easy answer to both those questions. Have a strategy and stick to it.
How to Bid at Auction Successfully
Top 3 Auction Strategy TipsHere are my top three auction strategy tips:
1. Agree on a maximum price
At least 48 hours before the auction sit down with all the decision makers and agree on a maximum price. Do not tell anyone what your top dollar is. Not even that nosy colleague at work and especially not the sales agent. Remember, the agent works for the seller.
2. Preparation
Play out some scenarios in your mind of how the auction may run. Consider where it may start and if you would be comfortable starting the bidding. Or would you only bid if it was called on the market?
Everyone has a different strategy. And no one really knows what will happen on the day. This is why it’s important to make sure you are prepared for a few of the possibilities.
3. Change your mindset
Stop thinking that the only way to be successful at an auction is to be the winning bidder. If you have a strategy in place, and you stick to that strategy then you are successful. Even if you’ve exhausted your limit and the property goes for more than you were willing to pay. So, yes, even if you don’t buy a property.
How is that successful? Well, you didn’t get caught up in the emotions, the spectacle and the atmosphere that an auction creates. And you didn’t feed into the seller’s dream of two emotional buyers going head-to-head in a fevered bidding war. Regulating your emotions and operating from a place of logic and calm will ensure your success regardless of the actual outcome.
Don’t get me wrong – I love to see a property sold under the hammer after some genuine, passionate bidding. What I am sick of seeing are agents on the phone to ‘prospective’ buyers who can’t buy under auction conditions. Or people being pulled in mid-auction to increase their bids well beyond what other bidders are willing to pay.
This is taking advantage of buyers who don’t know how to bid at auction. All to pull a deal together that meets the seller’s expectations. In my opinion it creates an unfair situation where the buyer’s emotions are high. The more experienced agent exploits these emotions to ensure the property sells.
Get Help With How to Bid at Auction
If you find bidding at auction too much and would like some help, please get in touch. As an experienced buyers advocate in Brisbane, I’m happy to share more tips on how to bid at auction.
Note: I originally posted this article on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-successful-when-bidding-auction-jayne-robbins/