Last week we hosted our exclusive event for clients with expert guidance on how investors can grow their portfolios through purchasing at auctions.

Over 30 of us gathered for a lovely breakfast at Boringdon Park Golf Club which was followed by a series of insightful presentations.  First up we had auctioneer Olivia Boulting who walked the audience through how easy it is to get involved in auctions these days with online, telephone and in person opportunities. She explained the importance of due diligence and the difference between guide pricing and reserve pricing. In terms of getting ready to attend auctions, Olivia suggested attending and observing in detail before you attend an auction at which you plan to bid. If you join online, “wiggling the cursor” shows the auctioneer that you are interested but most importantly, know what your maximum bid will be and ensure you have familiarised yourself with any addendums to the auction where you are bidding.

Next we heard from funding expert Darren Galliford who has recently joined Exeter Finance as Chief Operating Officer. He shared case studies on why it makes sense to get a personal service from a team of seasoned professionals with extensive local knowledge.

Following the funding theme, Becky Davies from Shawbrook bank explained how they’ll offer 85% loan to value at auction and that bridging finance hit a record high of £1.78bn nationally in Q3 of 2024. She also shared a case study success of 17 day completion working with Balance for a client.

Finally we got the very latest on the legal picture from Ebenezer Ola and Connor Barclay at Wolferstans including a very entertaining personal story from Ebe on his personal experience on buying property at auction and how to avoid some of the things he encountered!  Meanwhile Connor outlined how you can get your ducks in a row for an auction purchase by having all of your paperwork ready prior to completion and knowing whether your funds are in place to be deployed when the lawyers are ready.

Commenting on the day, Dave Ottley, Managing Director at Balance said:

“It was tremendous to get a room full of property professionals together to look at an option which is sometimes overlooked – auctions. It was clear from the questions in the room and the feedback afterwards that it will be an option in the future for many with expert assistance, as always, from funders and lawyers.”