I was at a home auction today,
The price for Auction was listed as $600,000 to $660,000.
But At $700,000 we were told bidding had not reached the reserve.
Is there not a rule that says the high end price of an Auction should have to be the reserve?
And if not, Why not?
Why Quote a price at all if it's not going to be accepted?
Oh how I hate auctions.
The reserve is lowest $ amount the seller will settle for, and the seller decides this amount. The seller need not even tell the auctioneer what that amount is until during the auction.
The real estate agent is in a catch 22 about telling prospective buyers what the expected sale price is, although if they set the sellers expectations correctly they they can generally give a pretty good price guide.
The auctioneer in this case may not have known what the seller wanted (aka reserve), which is why the price guide was so far out.
If the seller decides not to sell then the top bidder gets first right of negotiation.
i will never buy realestate at an auction. why would you in a buyers market? you could haggle a price over a six month period on 12 properties at the same time.
they list the property low $ to attract more people.
(the people for who the listed price is at the top of their budget)
bigger crowd,
bigger buzz,
people will hang around past their budget to see who buys and for how much.
the amount of people at an auction confirms a large interest in the property and the bids go that amount higher.
700,000 for a house...?
puc me, I could have bought my house three times over for that amount and still have had enough for a not too old ferrari
there are houses and then there are houses I guess.
maybe its a priority thing
^^^ Mate you should try house prices in Sydney on for size!
In NSW you have to register before an auction, but I bet that doesn't stop the rorting of dummy bidders... the ones to watch out for are the folks still bidding at the end who don't have someone from the real estate in their ear.
One auctioneer (who was a kiter) once told me that the way to get the best result at an auction as a seller was:
- Work out your minimum sell price and stick to it
- Tell the real estate exactly what that number is
- At the start of the auction, the first bid should be your vendor bid at this amount, which allows the auctioneer to declare the property on the market
- Profit!!!! 
I think he may have also said the way to get the best result at an auction as a buyer was make sure no-one else interested in buying turns up...
^^^ Hmm I disagree.
It's the agent's job to know what my place should expect to sell for plus or minus.
If the agent sets the expectation low with the seller then they don't need to work as hard, then anything over that amount is win in the sellers mind.
Sounds to me like the agent lowballed the price guide to get more people to the auction, but was saying a completely different number to the seller. Either that or the seller was just being unreasonable in the first place...
I think that's illegal in NSW. Dogy agents don't care if you fork out $600 for a building inspection only to find out it was never near he price. Shame on the agent, you can never trust them
At one auction I attended, when the bids dried up, the auctioneer asked the SECOND highest bidder to come inside the house to negotiate. The bidder declared that he was not the highest bidder; the auctioneer said "I know" and asked him inside again.
The auctioneer knew the highest bidder was a dummy bidder and had tried to push just a bit too high and was left as the highest bidder when all the real bidders bailed.
What happened to the (real) market setting the price!!
The cotton runts! 
Btw, the house was passed in, then remained unsold for some time. Karma perhaps.... 
I realise competition is intense in sydney and maybe sometimes that's the only way to get into the market ,but when someone outbids everybody else, and everyone applauds them on hot property, or whatever show it is ....... i can't be alone in thinking to myself
..Hello di*k head...!
^^^ Glad to see I'm not alone in this line of reasoning.
There is a big difference between value and price.
what rot, its a way of congratulating people on their new purchase, which is a massive thing when its a house.
dont be so miserable
