C&G’s Guide to Bidding with Confidence

Tips & Advice

Bidding at auction can be a stressful experience for many people, especially if it’s your first time doing so. After all, there are substantial sums of money at stake and emotions running high. In this C&G blog, we’re providing you with some tips to help you bid with confidence and increase the chances of securing your new home.

Do your due diligence and homework

Bidding at auction is binding, so you want to be completely certain that you have dotted all your I’s and crossed all your t’s. This will give you the peace of mind you need to raise your hand and make a bid with confidence.

Ensure that a lawyer or conveyancer have looked over the contracts, and make sure that a building and pest inspection has been carried out by a professional. We highly recommend looking at your state’s due diligence checklist, which will outline important considerations to think about prior to auction, including owners corporation, land boundaries and building permits.

Furthermore, make sure you inspect the property at different times of the day to see how it is affected by sunlight and traffic. It is also a good idea to research similar properties around the area, to help give you a clear picture of the property’s value before you go to an auction. You can even invest in an independent qualified valuer to get an appraisal of the property’s true worth before you place a bid. 

Be approved

This is perhaps one of the most important things to have in place before going to auction that will allow you to bid with confidence. Knowing that you have access to your 10 percent deposit, have your pre-approval in place with your chosen lender and can afford the repayments will make the whole process of bidding much less stressful.

Know your limit

As well as being nerve-wracking, auctions can also be exciting environments! For this reason, it’s important to be clear on your maximum amount that you are prepared to spend before you arrive at the auction, so you don’t bid above your means if you get swept up in a bidding war.

It can often be helpful to have someone who is not emotionally attached to the property with you at the auction. If you start bidding over your limit they can gently remind you that it’s time to pull the pin.

Befriend the agent

This doesn’t mean you need to take them out for a coffee, but instead we suggest getting to know the selling agent prior to the auction to find out as much as possible about the process. Introduce yourself to the agent and auctioneer ahead of the start of the auction, and make it known that you will be bidding. This is useful if there’s a larger crowd or you are standing off to the side so they can keep an eye out for you.

Practice makes perfect

Before bidding at an auction for the first time, it’s a good idea to attend a few as a spectator. This gives you some good insight into how an auction is structured, the etiquette that’s expected and how bidders interact with each other and the auctioneer. The more you expose yourself to the auction environment, the more confident you’ll feel when the time comes to bid at one.