On vendor bids
“If you have an auction with only one or two bids registered, a vendor bid will perhaps be a more commonly used tool,” says Pratt. “I think the vendor bid comes down to education and how much work the agent has done prior to the auction so they know where the buyers are at.”
“I mostly use a vendor bid either to get an auction started or simply to protect the value for the owner if nobody turns up," says Davidson. "I believe that a good auctioneer and a good agent will treat a reasonable vendor bid as an opportunity to set it up for the next day.”
On authority forms
“It’s so important to make sure you’ve got authority forms executed properly before the auction,” says Davis. “This involves providing authorisation and details for the third-party bidder and a photocopy of the absent buyer’s identification.”
At the fall of the hammer
“While you may have a someone come up at the end of the auction to say: ‘You didn’t see my bid’ or ‘Can I put in a higher offer?’, at the fall of the hammer the property is sold to that particular party if the reserve price has been met," says Pratt. "Once a property is sold, it’s sold. However, a good auctioneer will certainly use trial closes – your first, second and third calls – to avoid this situation.”
Post auction
“Always make sure your contract is absolutely bulletproof," says Davis. "Because if there’s any potential for buyer’s remorse, they’re going to speak to their solicitors to try and find a way to get out of that contract.”
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