First Time Buyer - Are Auctions A Good Place For First Time Buyers?

As a first time buyer you may be exploring and researching all the different ways of buying a property and read that a place where you can often get a bargain is at a property auction. There are plenty of property auctions taking place all over the country (and indeed, the World) on a daily basis. Some are simply organised to allow private sellers to make a quick sell of their property while avoiding estate agent fees. Other auctions are arranged in order to quickly auction off properties on behalf of banks and financial institutions that are looking to recoup their money on repossessions and defaulted payments.

It is true that these auctions can indeed offer fantastic value for money and allow great properties at great prices to all kinds of buyers, including first time buyers.

However, it can be a bit of a minefield too. Before approaching an auction you need to know that you're sure exactly about what you want to purchase. It is all too easy to attend an auction and get carried away with bidding on all sorts of properties which may not actually be suitable for you in the long term. You need to establish some strict guidelines and in an ideal world you need to go and view the properties you are thinking of buying on and create a shortlist.

You then need to be strict with yourself that you will only bid on the properties that you have viewed and liked and not get drawn into bidding on properties that you did not get a chance to see but take your fancy.

You also need to have surveys done on these properties wherever possible. Although you are buying at auction and may secure a lower price the same problems of any housing still apply. You do not want to win a property at auction only to find out that the property needs a whole new roof that you never accounted for in your budget. Therefore, again, you need to be very strict with yourself about only bidding on properties where you have had a survey or a survey has already been supplied and you are happy with the results that it meets your time and financial commitments.

Finally, the hardest thing to do is to commit to a maximum price on each property you want to bid on. It is all too easy to get carried away and start thinking that just one more small bid increase might just secure ทาวน์เฮ้าส์มือสอง รัชดา you your property. Bid up to your maximum level and don't bid a penny more. All too often first time buyers will end up buying with their heart as it's their first purchase and effectively they are buying a long-held dream. That dream can soon turn to a nightmare though if you end up bidding higher than your original budget and being stuck with mortgage payments that you are struggling to afford.

So the simple summary is that auctions are a great place for you to buy your first home but only if you really do your research first and have enough self-control to stick to your criteria and budget. If you don't have this control then this is probably not the best route for you and maybe the conventional route such as using an estate agent would be more advised.