I got carried away over the weekend after I have won,
Here it is in details:
Background
After months of researching, bidding, losses at auction etc...,
Last Saturday, I had my eye on 2 auctions site (first one @12:30, another @ 2:00)
I knew that if the price is right, one of them is mine
Saturday:
Got up real early, after 2 x double shot espressos, I was really pumped and buzzing
Got to the destination at 11:00am. yes, that is right, 1:30 hours prior to the first auction.
There was another auction (a unit) on the same street as the first site, so made my way over there, it was finally sold at 20-30k over my expected sell price.
12:00am; made my way to the first auction site.
There were probably 50 - 60 people, they all had their serious face on.
Some came with Porsches, others came in with v-vest or flip flops
By this point, I had a feeling that my budget may not take me all the way with this purchase
12:30am; finally auction started, and so did the rain.
No one opened up with any bids. So the auctioneer open with vendors bid.. And this continued for the next 3 bids
Then a home buyer finally came in with a very low bid, I think mid 300's or something or rather.
Auctioneer were then calling 2nd and final calls based on this really low offer..
All other 50 or 60 people (myself included) just stood in the rain, staring at the auctioneer with no one raising their voice or hands..
By this point, I was thinking in my head, this is a joke right, no way this is going to be passed at this price, So I thought, if everyone is Shy, I ain't going to just stand in the rain any longer.
So, I raised my voice and said "FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS"
(Yes, I did use your advice, bid with confidence and loud)
Now, this got everyone attention
But, the funny thing was, again, no other bids came in after mine.
Auctioneer even went inside and spoke to the seller.
But only moments later came back to say, the bid is with me, so clearly, it did not hit the reserve price
Then the serious bidder came along to the party, 1 other bidder, clearly they were builders.
The price just kept on climbing between them and I, while the other 50-60 bidders witnessed a game of tennis between the 2 of us in the rain.
No matter how I bid, they were going by a thousand over me.
And after my 6th or 7th bid, I just knew, they wouldn't give up, and if keeps on going, the only benefit is going to go to the seller. So I decided to let this go to the other buyer.
In the end, he really was another developer in the local area. So I walked away. He got a good deal!
While walking to my car, a young bloke approached me and said, hey, I have a house on this street for sale, you wanna come and have a look, So I did.
He was trying to get a serious buyer and bypassing an agent, smart idea
But, unfortunately, the land size was too small, and yet hes asking price is unrealistic, (if you are on this forum, I would say this mate, you ain?t gonna get your asking price.)
2:00pm (second auction)
The rain finally stopped, 2nd property is also been auctioned by the same agents, as soon as I arrived, they knew that I meant business. A small crowd had gathered, funny thing was, most of them were from the first auction, (those non-bidders), I had a feeling that I was going to win this easily and I did.
There were hardly any bids. I came in towards the end, still at a relatively low bid. But as soon as I had open a bid, there were no any other bids afterwards.. And I had won, as simple as that
The sell did not get passed through at my highest bid tho, apparently it did not hit the reserve price.
So I went in and negotiated a slightly better price with the seller, and made the final sale.
To answer your question, yes I brought under my budget, and I believe it is an reasonable offer.
