Land for auction - advice please.

coillsaille

Hi all,

There is a small parcel of land (5 acres) in the area going to auction in a couple of weeks which I would be interested in if I got it at a reasonable price. However I have never been to one of these and have no idea how it works.
So do you just arrive and raise your hand to bid or do you have to make yourself known to the auctioneer first?
Also there is no reserve price, apparently the land will be sold on the day either way no matter how low the bids. So if there is no opening bid and I want to make one do I just shout out the offer? And then is there set amounts by which each bid increases on the one before or do you have to shout each time what exactly your bid is? Sorry, pretty clueless about this.

Farmer Pudsey

Very suprised there is no reserve. Generally the auctioneer will try to start at a certain figure at or near the reserve say 50K he will invite bidders to open it at this figure, usually nobody will so he will drop it to 40K and so on. You can try to open it at a lower figure by indicating with your hand say showing 3 fingers indicating that you are will to bid 33K he may or may not open it at this generally he will.

He will then ask for the next bid maybe by saying '' I have 33k who will give me 35K'' if no one bids he may offer it at 34K. Bidding can go up in 5K's,10K's or 1K or even 500 euro's depending on the mood of the auction. Sometime if an auctioneer suspects that you are inexperienced he may try to keep the bid high force you ending on a higher price. However some bidders may set higher bids to frighten other bidders or to see if other bidder will pause. If it is going up in 2K's and you want to drop the amount a show of one finger should do if he still increases by two do not bid next time until he indicates that he will accept 1K

Bid slowly even if he goes away from you do not panic he will come back before the end. Often put in a bid early on so he will know you are intrested. I be slow enough letting him know you are intrested as he may try to suss out who you are and how far you may go.

There are a few rules know your limit and stick to it, it one thing to go 1k or 2k beyond but nothing stupid like 10K or 20K. Do not get carried away. Have a friend with you if you like although I always went by myself.
You will need a deposit of about 10% of the price. Sometime's they will say a bank draft I always only had the cheque book. It may remain unsold at end of auction no matter what is said before hand. And if the bidding stops in the middle as the auctioneer go to speak to the sellers if anybody try's to suss you out with ''are you going further'' keep your mouth shut or tell him he find out when the auctioneer comes back. Remember the wall's have ears.

Best of luck be prepared for the sour looks after the first bid.

coillsaille

Thanks Farmer Pudsey.

Some good advice there.

There is no reserve price because the land belonged to an old bachelor farmer who died few years back and it was inherited by a distant relative (in England I think) who just wants rid of it. Other lots, including the old lad's house, going at the same auction. But its just the 5 acre lot I'm interested in.

PatQfarmer

coillsaille wrote: »

Hi all,

There is a small parcel of land (5 acres) in the area going to auction in a couple of weeks which I would be interested in if I got it at a reasonable price. However I have never been to one of these and have no idea how it works.
So do you just arrive and raise your hand to bid or do you have to make yourself known to the auctioneer first?
Also there is no reserve price, apparently the land will be sold on the day either way no matter how low the bids. So if there is no opening bid and I want to make one do I just shout out the offer? And then is there set amounts by which each bid increases on the one before or do you have to shout each time what exactly your bid is? Sorry, pretty clueless about this.

If you've ever been to a mart, it's really the same, just slower.
Most important advice I'd give is two-fold:
1. Get your solicitor to check the title before the auction. Otherwise you could be buying land that could have charges, rights of way etc on it.
2. Don't even raise your hand unless you are sure you have access to funding to pay for it. If you are the buyer at auction, you have to pay a 10% deposit and sign an unconditional contract on the day...no way out. If you cannot complete the sale, you will lose your deposit and they can sue you for any loss.

Other than the above, set a limit and don't go beyond it.
Best of luck, let us know how you get on:)

vanderbadger

PatQfarmer wrote: »

If you've ever been to a mart, it's really the same, just slower.
Most important advice I'd give is two-fold:
1. Get your solicitor to check the title before the auction. Otherwise you could be buying land that could have charges, rights of way etc on it.
2. Don't even raise your hand unless you are sure you have access to funding to pay for it. If you are the buyer at auction, you have to pay a 10% deposit and sign an unconditional contract on the day...no way out. If you cannot complete the sale, you will lose your deposit and they can sue you for any loss.

Other than the above, set a limit and don't go beyond it.
Best of luck, let us know how you get on:)

patq
question on the 10% deposit, can you just give a cheque for the amount?

PatQfarmer

vanderbadger wrote: »

patq
question on the 10% deposit, can you just give a cheque for the amount?

We'd never refuse a cheque, because the buyer is legally committed in any event. Other auctioneers may be different, but I'd say it's very unusual not to accept a cheque. No one is going to auction knowing in advance to get 10% of an unknown selling price.
If they have a prob with chq, tell them wait while you go to bank to get Draft afterwards.

vanderbadger

PatQfarmer wrote: »

We'd never refuse a cheque, because the buyer is legally committed in any event. Other auctioneers may be different, but I'd say it's very unusual not to accept a cheque. No one is going to auction knowing in advance to get 10% of an unknown selling price.
If they have a prob with chq, tell them wait while you go to bank to get Draft afterwards.

thanks
what way is land going at the moment, would i be right in saying there is still plenty of demand for good land? prices still very dear?

PatQfarmer

vanderbadger wrote: »

thanks
what way is land going at the moment, would i be right in saying there is still plenty of demand for good land? prices still very dear?

Demand growing, supply growing a bit too, prices starting to rise again, esp where there is competition.
Farmers seem to be the only people who can borrow money, whether that is a good or a bad thing, time will tell.
Land a lot less than in boom-times, €10-12kpa typical here in Sth Tipp.

Tipp Man

PatQfarmer wrote: »

Demand growing, supply growing a bit too, prices starting to rise again, esp where there is competition.
Farmers seem to be the only people who can borrow money, whether that is a good or a bad thing, time will tell.
Land a lot less than in boom-times, €10-12kpa typical here in Sth Tipp.

If only supply would grow a bit faster Pat

PatQfarmer

Tipp Man wrote: »

If only supply would grow a bit faster Pat

You and me both, Tipp Man, You and me both:rolleyes:

newmug

OP you dont usually have to make yourself known to the auctioneer beforehand. If you are the last bidder, he will be over to you to get your details.

lakill Farm

Why not go to another auction before hand and just watch what goes on.

adne

lakill Farm wrote: »

Why not go to another auction before hand and just watch what goes on.

you could get your solicitor to bid for you and u instruct him of your limit and be on the phone while bidding. might leave you more at ease to think straight

awaywithyou

adne wrote: »

you could get your solicitor to bid for you and u instruct him of your limit and be on the phone while bidding. might leave you more at ease to think straight

sound advice there.... let your solicitor do it for you... especially if you've never been to an auction before.

Markcheese

If there's a few lots together, the auctioneer may take bids on the entire as well, so he'll take bids on each separate lot.. But not bring the gavel down .. He'll park the best bid ... Then take bids on all the entire and if it's more than the sum of the lots he'll go back again to see if he can get more for the lots ... A bit odd but hey ...

Tipp Man

If you are serious about buying this land then get your solicitor to buy it for you - no messing around

Farmer Pudsey

If you have the confidance to do it your self go and do it. Its a learning curve I was at about 20 auctions before I bought. Made mistakes along the way but learned a lot same as at a mart you have to start somewhere. The other thing to remember if its to be it to be.

I learned towalk away their is always the next place I started off looking at places around 20 acres and ended up with 70 acres that is life.

coillsaille

A big thank you to everyone who has offered advice on this.
I can't see the land selling for much as it has very little road frontage so not much potential for planning. Its also not great for pasture as its made up of boggy patches and scrub. The reason I am interested in it is it adjoins the land my house is on. So it could be useful for extending the garden, growing firewood, maybe even putting a couple of cows or few goats on it. There are many possibilities, but only if I get it cheap as funds are low enough these days.

Muckit

There is also another matter that nobody mentioned.

OP you talked about a house that you have no interest in. It would not be unusual for there to be three Lots, say...
1 the house on own
2 the 5 acres
lot 3 the entire

So even if you are the highest bidder on Lot2, because they want shot of the entire estate, you may be out of the picture if there is a substantial bid on Lot 3...

coillsaille

True Muckit. Hadnt thought about that till Markcheese mentioned it earlier in thread.
Still though the land in general is poor even by rough grazing standards. So hoping anyone intersted in the house will be just looking to demolish and rebuild and not have any interest in the land.

Muckit

coillsaille wrote: »

True Muckit. Hadnt thought about that till Markcheese mentioned it earlier in thread.

I need to go to specsavers

Don't let 'bad land' get your hopes up. Similar scenario myself a few weeks ago. Thought I'd get a small piece for pocket money, but it sold in the entire after

coillsaille

You're right about not getting my hopes up. As was said earlier, if its meant to be it will be.

There is some land in with the house lot. The land I am interested in is located a bit away from this and being sold as a separate lot.
So its not as if the person buying the house has the option of also buying the entire and having it all joined together with his new house built on it.

Thats the hope I'm clinging to anyway!!

newmug

Hope it all goes well for ya Coillsaille. Keep us informed anyway.