Has anyone bought or sold a house by auction ? (this is purely out of interest)

[Dave7]

I occasionally see bits of a BBC prog called Homes Under The Hammer.
Basically it follows 3 separate people who buy 3 separate houses from auction houses.
The 3 people could be anyone ie, married couples, builders or chancers etc.
It then briefly follows them as they bring thier house to the standard THEY want.
Bear in mind these people could be planning to sell, rent or live in the house and the modification could be anything from decorating to gutting and rebuilding.
So..........my point is.......
Everything always seems to end well.
They all make excellent money via selling, renting or living in it.

Surely there must be horror stories?
Who pays all the fees.
I can make guesses but wonder if anyone has actual experience, maybe 2nd hand.

 

[Sharky]

Some of those before and after visits can be years apart.

 

[classic33]

A few of the same properties have ended up back on the same show.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

My mate has done it a few times. You generally have to pay 10% of the hammer price on the day. The balance is usually due within 28 days, unless you get a conditional sale which increases the period to 60 days. You can take a bridging loan to finance the 90% (most common with developers looking to renovate and sell) or there are mortgages available. If you can't secure finance you can lose the 10% and be liable for other fees.

If you know your local market and get your budgeting bang on (particularly with full on renovations) you can make good money. I think people on HUTH tend to be quite experienced and have everything set up to buy, renovate and sell within a fairly quick timeframe. My mate used it to buy his own properties, do them up and live in them, flip them for a decent cash profit and move up the ladder. He now lives in a very nice house mortgage free but he had to put in a lot of graft to get there.

Like anything, if you are prepared to put in a lot of time and effort it can be lucrative.