Latest News

Market uncertainty and buyer confidence

The economic climate is always changing. While some believe it follows an eight-year cycle, others argue that the past ten years have been different. During this time, the economy has been shaken by a series of major world events, most recently the war in the Middle East. Whenever we see significant fluctuations, it affects people’s confidence, which in a downturn can have a seismic impact on property sales, particularly for an individual property where there are few comparable sales to offer reassurance.

Why auction can be the right route

This is where a sale by auction can be the most suitable route to market, especially with a traditional in-room auction. A fixed timeline brings buyers together, and the ability to see others attaching value to the same property is hugely reassuring. Even if the winning bidder ends up being driven beyond the maximum they were hoping to pay, there is the reassurance that they only paid a marginal amount more than the underbidder, their closest rival who too was willing to exchange contracts there and then.

The problem with overpricing and prolonged marketing

This scenario often applies to individual properties that have been marketed by agents for a lengthy period without success. The difficulty for agents at the start is in setting an asking price where there are no comparable sales, and, fearful of asking too little, most ask too much. Buyers then don’t engage, and the longer the property remains unsold, the more buyers question what may be wrong, and satisfy themselves they were right not to look at something nobody else wants to buy. Matters are worsened where a sale is agreed and later fails. All sorts of assumptions may then be made, and although the reason may have been quite innocent, the most dire theories may be applied.

Case study: Popes Farm, Sandy

Such was the case with Popes Farm, Sandy, offered in our auction on 22nd April. This was a four-bedroom Victorian farmhouse in need of improvement, together with a collection of buildings that comprised a garage, two barns, and a kennel building, with staff rooms and 17 stalls, plus an approved planning consent for residential redevelopment, all in a plot of two and a half acres, set at the end of a no-through road and fronting onto the A1.

Our first inspection was in September 2024, following six months of marketing by a Bedford corporate estate agent who typically deals with selling modest flats and houses within the town and who had recommended asking £1,300,000. How they had arrived at such a figure was a mystery – probably a combination of over exuberance and inexperience. We valued the property at just over half that sum, which resulted in a short conversation and a swift exit, accompanied by the parting remark that our door is always open. As is often the case, there is always another estate agent knocking on the door claiming they can achieve a better result, usually too afraid to suggest any meaningful reduction. So, the agent was replaced, the price was lowered, and lowered again, and a ‘buyer’ was eventually found and the sale ultimately fell through. All the time, the costs continued to rise with the property standing empty, and prospective buyers were holding off.

At the end of March, we spoke again with the seller, and this time our advice was heeded. We were instructed to offer the property with a guide price of £500,000. The guide price achieved its aim by attracting interest from multiple buyers, leading to strong competition, with three people bidding against each other. This resulted in a final sale price of £705,000, with contracts exchanged in just four weeks!

Case study: Grange Farm, Cople

Our second example is Grange Farm, Cople, a detached period farmhouse with a collection of barns totalling some 12,000 sq. ft., with past planning consent for development, set in just over three acres. It too had significant issues; most of the land was flood plain, a 9,000 sq. ft. barn was clad in asbestos, the traditional barns were dilapidated, and the farmhouse a wreck. It too had been on the market for over a year and had seen two aborted sales, the most recent involving a buyer who negotiated the price down to £650,000 before ultimately pulling out.

Our advice here was to guide at £550,000, which sparked tremendous interest. Each of our open-house viewing sessions were buzzing, with buyers seeing first hand the level of interest and the number of other attendees. With the auction just a week after the last viewing, the bidding was frantic and the eventual sale price was £780,000, being £130,000 more than the previous buyer was paying!

Honest advice and clear guidance

For anyone unsure whether a sale by auction will be suitable, we are always happy to appraise and give advice. We do not charge for appraisals, and if we don’t think auction is the best route to market, we will say so.

To discuss further, please contact me.