FAQs

When a bid is placed in the closing minutes of an auction it can prevent serious buyers missing out on a purchase.

This practice of 'sniping' leaves both buyers and sellers unsatisfied. For this reason we have developed an anti-sniping tool and incorporated it into our website.

If a bid is placed during the last 5 minutes of an auction, the deadline will automatically be reset to 5 minutes, giving other bidders time to react. This will continue until no further bids are placed.

Yes. Some of the properties clearly need work doing. Although we believe the reserve price reflects the work that needs doing we would encourage you to have an idea of the cost to put right before bidding and bringing a builder is encouraged.

Please note you cannot negotiate on price once the auction has closed so ensure that you bid responsibly. The vendor is most likely to consider the second highest bidder before reducing the price further.

No. All property on our site will go through the online auction process. Offers can only be made in the form of a bid, online and during the live auction.

We will not take any offers over the phone or by any other method. Neither will we take bids/offers before or after the auction has started/closed.

You must register as a buyer with us before you can bid.

No. Offers can only be made in the form of bids and during the live auction. A revised bid cannot be accepted after the auction has closed.

The bid price that is announced as the winning bid (i.e. the highest price achieved over the reserve) is what you are obliged to pay. There will be no negotiation at a later date e.g. after a survey is done. This does not affect your rights under section 10.3.

We are required to attain the best price possible for the vendor and believe that our auction process achieves this. If you were not to honour the purchase price agreed on winning the auction then we would advise the vendor to consider the second highest bidder.

If you were to withdraw from the purchase then you may forfeit your reservation fee, subject to the buyer terms.

No you cannot do this as you can appreciate we have an auction in process and this would make the auction void.

DO NOT bid unless you are 100% sure. If you bid and you win the auction then you are obliged to pay our reservation fee of 3.6% (subject to a minimum of £3,600).

The completion deadline listed is strict. However there could be times when something unforeseen happens which may cause a delay.

If delays are caused by issues on the vendor side that mean that the deadline is breached then the buyer can withdraw with a full return of their reservation fee. However, should a revised extension date be agreed by both parties then our terms & conditions still apply and that becomes the new contractual completion date. Under such circumstances the buyer could not withdraw with a return of their reservation fee during this extended period unless they are entitled to a return per section 10.3 of our buyer terms. Please also note that Hammer Price Homes will not be liable for any costs associated delays.

If delays on the buyer side mean that the deadline is breached then under no circumstances would the buyer be entitled to a return of the reservation fee after the deadline date has passed, regardless of whether an extension has been agreed by the vendor or not.

If you win an auction you will have to provide us with proof of funds for the Reservation Fee and you will also have to complete a questionnaire that explains how you will finance the purchase of the property. This is an Anti Money Laundering requirement.

We may ask for proof of funds prior to enabling your account to bid on a property.

Please see the How it works – Buyer page for more details.

When and how do I bid?

Once you have registered and have been verified you will receive notification of this and you can bid on the property you want and it's all done by logging into your account on our website.

We would advise that you attend one of the open days so you can physically view the property before bidding, see the note below on registering for open days.

We would also encourage you to check that you are financially able to honour any winning bid before bidding. Get an upfront indication of what your bank will lend you and bid responsibly.

Please view our illustration video on the bidding process on the how it works buyer page of our website.

You will see the current maximum bid and a note as to whether this has met with the reserve price (the reserve price is the minimum price that the seller will accept).

Simply key in your maximum bid. You will receive notification as to whether your bid is the highest and if it has met the reserve. The next bid will only increase by either £500 or £1,000 at a time and will automate until it has reached your maximum bid. This operates in a similar way to other online auction sites that you may be familiar with.

How long does the online auction last and how will I know if mine is the winning bid?

The bidding window (the auction) typically opens up for the last 3 days of the marketing period. You will be notified almost immediately after the auction ends if your bid is the winning one.

We do operate with an ANTI SNIPING device which ensures all bids are logged (see FAQ on this) this can extend the auction slightly (normally by no more than one hour).

With us, you have 48 hours to secure your purchase by paying the Reservation Fee of 3.6% (Inc. VAT) (minimum £3,600 Inc. VAT) within 2 Hours of the auction closing and then completing the Reservation Form within 48 Hours of the auction closing. You will then follow the conventional steps involved in completing a sale, just as you would with an estate agent.

No further fees will be payable to us, nor are there any deposit fees payable for the property itself.

Please note a sale on our site is subject to contract and therefore not legally binding between buyer & seller until contracts exchange. Please read our terms and conditions.

At an auction house you must pay a 10% deposit upon the fall of the gavel, the remainder 28 days later, followed by completion on the property two weeks after that.

Also at Auctions they use a Guide Price. This is normally 10%. This means that the bidding would normally start within 10% of the Reserve (Price that the vendor wants). We don’t use the words Guide Price in our terminology but typically we will start the bidding at between 15-20% lower than the reserve. Please note that if the reserve is not met then we would talk with the highest bidder to see if we can put forward their highest bid or a bid that is closer to the reserve. It would be up to the vendor whether they wish to reduce the reserve figure to secure a sale.

So if you are keen on the idea of an auction but don't like the thought of bidding in a noisy, intimidating arena, or hastily arranging your finances, you have come to the right place.

With Hammer Price Homes you can bid in your slippers from the comfort of your living room not that it will be a totally stress free experience. Buying in an auction is both exciting and a little scary but ultimately you will only bid on a property that you really want, at a price you are happy with.

So what have you got to lose? You may be concerned about the huge expense involved in buying a property, whatever route you decide to follow. If you buy with us, you will pay a reservation fee but could save huge sums by simply shopping around for the right solicitor and surveyor.

That leaves the matter of stamp duty to deal with. We don't have an answer for that unfortunately, but we do have a way to reduce your overall costs.

Sell your existing property with Hammer Price Homes. It's free (terms & conditions apply).

This is our fee for allowing buyers to bid for the property they want on our site. The fee is calculated at 3.6% inc. VAT of the actual selling price of the property, subject to a minimum fee of £3,600 inc. VAT.

This is an additional fee to the property value (winning bid value) that is to be paid to the seller. It is not a down payment.

NO our auction process is not like a physical auction whereby a legal pack is made available prior to the auction commencing. Our process follows the traditional route associated with buying through an estate agent. Searches and surveys etc. would be conducted once the auction closes. The sale is subject to contract and not legally binding until contracts exchange though the majority of winning bids on our site move to successful completion.

Sometimes we will include a Search pack and these would be payable by the Buyer at the same time as the Reservation Fee.

You will receive an email declaring that you are the winner. No more bids will be received on the property as the auction will be closed and the property will be listed as sold.

Step 1 – You must make payment of the Reservation Fee (3.6% inc. VAT) & Search Fees (if applicable) by Bank Transfer within 2 Hours of the auction closing. On receipt we will issue you with a VAT Receipt.

Step 2 - After you’ve paid the Fees, you will need to complete the Reservation Form, within 48 Hours of the auction closing. This is where you provide us with your buyer details and solicitor details.

As part of our money laundering requirements all winning bidders are required to provide us with a copy of I.D (Passport or Driving licence). This should be forwarded to info@hammerpricehomes.co.uk within 48 hours of winning the auction, unless we have already requested this during the registration process. We never share your data with third parties unless acting in the course of business (e.g. your details will be forwarded to solicitors on the memorandum of sale).

Step 3 - We will issue the Memorandum of Sale. This is a formal document that registers a sale has been agreed 'subject to contract'. The buyer, vendor and both solicitors will receive a copy of this.

That's correct many of our buyers are mortgage buyers not cash buyers, that's the beauty of it all. It's a blend of the methods taken from the traditional estate agent method and the physical auction method with some other nice features added like doing most of it from your own home.

Once you've won the auction our process follows the conventional route that you would take if you had just had an offer accepted through an estate agent.

Although we would advise that you ensure you have agreed with your lender that you can borrow what you need to cover the purchase before you bid. You will be liable for our fees should you pull out due to lack of finances after paying your commission fee.

Do not bid beyond your means.

If you withdraw then you will lose your reservation fee. However there are certain circumstances where you could withdraw without forfeiting the reservation fee and they are categorised below. Though please ensure you read any special conditions that are included in the listing as they may override our standard terms meaning that the Reservation Fee may be non-refundable under the circumstances listed below.

• Where the seller withdraws from the sale. The risk of this is low as the seller would be liable to pay the reservation fee.
• Serious structural issues where the cost is significant to rectify and/or the property is unmortgageable. A serious structural issue means the property has suffered subsidence and underpinning is required. This will have been diagnosed by a structural engineer in a formal report and the cost to remedy is likely to run into tens of thousands of pounds. Serious structural issues that warrant a fee return will not include works to the drains, lintels or roof coverings. Please note that special conditions may be included in the listing that state for structural issues you will not be entitled to a Reservation Fee return.
• Other issues concerning the condition of the property which make the property unmortgageable – Unless special conditions apply to the property (e.g. stipulated that the property is unmortgageable and is a cash purchase only)
• There is a problem with title. Again the risk is minimal as this will be checked before marketing.
• If Searches are not included in our listing and there is a problem with searches acquired by the buyers solicitor (e.g. a road will be built through the land where the property currently resides and it will be demolished). If Searches are included in the listing and are available for download then the buyer cannot withdraw and have a fee return for anything covered in those searches.
• Please note that an inability to extend or reconfigure a property would not warrant a fee return should you withdraw. You are buying the property in its current state & configuration and bid on the basis that there remains a risk that planning consent may not be granted.

If you are keen to avoid the endless uncertainty that goes with buying a property and like the idea of transparent selling, our online auction process is for you.

Buying this way can result in a quick, definitive sale without gazumping or cold feet to upset proceedings. Once the auction has ended we are then closed to any further bids.

Once a bid is won and the reservation fee paid then should the seller pull out they will be pursued for the fee. This is part of our terms and conditions and has proven to be a deterrent to sellers dropping out.

Please note that it's online bidding. Please ensure that you have the best reception possible and continuity otherwise this may affect your ability to bid and we cannot do anything about you missing a bid due to poor connectivity. Eg on a train going through a tunnel. Anything less than 4 bars showing on your phone will leave you vulnerable to signal loss.

We also recommend that you regularly refresh your bidding page. Whilst our system updates real-time should you lose connectivity at any point you may have an out of date bidding page which may only be brought up to date by a refresh.

No. Bidding on your own property is forbidden on our site. If you are found to bidding on your own property we will inactivate your accounts and remove your property listing.

It is also forbidden to bid on a property for which you have vested interest in whether financial or other. You can only bid on an arm’s length basis and you should only bid if there is a genuine interest in purchasing that property.

The bidding increments varies based on the start price of the auction, the increments are as follows:

Start price of £0.00 to £249,999 - £500 bidding increments.

Start price of £250,000 to £899,999 - £1,000 bidding increments.

Start price over £900,000 - £5,000 bidding increments.