0:02: Everyone and welcome to another episode of the Brisbane Property Podcast with Scott and Melinda Jennison, and, we're going to talk today about auctions. 0:09: . 0:09: I love this topic. 0:11: Welcome back, everybody. 0:12: And the reason I love this topic so much is because Scott and I have attended hundreds, actually, I'm going to say thousands of auctions over many, many years throughout all of Brisbane. 0:22: We really understand the Auction process like professionals should. 0:27: And when you are so experienced at seeing auctions and bidding at auctions, I think that you can see a lot of mistakes that buyers make at auctions. 0:36: And so the purpose of today's episode is to really give you some hints and tips of, one, what you need to do to prepare if you are going to bid at an auction yourself. 0:46: And what you need to do in the lead up to that auction. 0:49: But#2, more importantly, on auction day, how can you actually outsmart other bidders through some tactics that professionals do use? 0:57: And some of the tips that we're going to share with you hopefully will give you a competitive advantage when it comes to auction day. 1:04: So let's, let's start with some basics then, and what makes an auction different in Brisbane compared to private treaty and why buyers find them, quite intimidating, so. 1:13: I mean, look, auctions, obviously, auction conditions, we talk about it all the time, and again we'll, we'll we'll probably talk about things here and, and run through them fairly quick because they, we know them really well, so obviously, if, if we do brush over things a little bit, hopefully we, we cover it all really well, but. 1:29: Auction's unconditional. 1:30: So when, when the auctioneer will get up, he'll talk about the conditions of the auctions, you're buying it, finance unconditional, building a pest is unconditional, so everything, it is completely unconditional contract. 1:41: You actually also waive your right to any cooling off period. 1:44: So whatever you pay, if you are the highest bidder on auction day, if it meets the seller's expectations or indeed It exceeds it, you will be the winning bidder, and you will be required to sign the contract. 1:55: There's no getting out of that contract whatsoever, so it is legally binding. 1:59: it is also, legislation here in Queensland that if you are, going to bid or intending to bid at an auction, you must be registered to bid. 2:09: And that means that you have, provided your ID. 2:12: Identification documents to the agent or the auctioneer prior to the auction, or just, upon registering at the auction on the same day. 2:21: And you've, also provided the, the details of whose name will be on the contract. 2:26: So your identification would be that you're buying in your own name, and those details would be on the contract, or alternatively, if you're purchasing in an entity. 2:34: Whether that's a trust or a self-managed super fund or even a company, those details would have been required to have been the registered party, and you're bidding on behalf of that registered party, so. 2:45: That's actually something that people need to be aware of up front. 2:49: you have to have all of the contract details ready, because that will become part of the registration process. 2:55: So that's very different, to private treaty sales, where you might be able to place an offer by email or by SMS or even over the phone. 3:03: but at auction, it's all done in registration forms, which requires you to have that buying entity ready ready. 3:10: I, I think one of the big things that, what we see, and, and this is something just to give you a bit of an insight, what we do here with our team at Streamline Property Buyers. 3:19: So obviously we are attending auctions, and, and we're bidding on auctions. 3:22: We actually, we're successful for a client on, on, on the weekend, where we attend an auction and bid on their behalf. 3:30: in between time on Saturdays, for example, just to give you a bit of a rundown, we obviously, number one's our clients. 3:36: So we're working for our clients, we're inspecting properties, we're looking at properties for them. 3:40: , we're attending auctions for them, and if we get a space in between our day in our runs on, on a, on a weekend, we will actually program to go to auctions. 3:50: And we'll go and watch auctions, we'll be able to gauge how many people are attending, how many people are registering, how many people are bidding, who's the auctioneer, how they're running their auctions, because we've seen a couple of new auctioneers pop up recently here in Brisbane. 4:04: So just understanding their language, their body. 4:06: And how they actually run an auction is really important, then when it comes for us when we're actually often when we're engaged by a client. 4:15: I think the biggest stress for people, that, and the biggest intimidation thing is people don't do them very often, you might do one. 4:24: to auctions in your whole life. 4:26: whereas we're doing that on a weekend, 1 or 2 on a weekend probably. 4:29: So I think that's one of the big things that people find it intimidating is that they're just not used to it. 4:33: They're out of their comfort zone. 4:35: Yeah, I'm gonna also add to that that, most people bidding at auction don't have a, a, a thorough understanding of the legislation that governs the real estate industry and the legislation that governs what can and cannot happen at an auction. 4:48: And what you can and cannot do as a registered bidder at the auction. 4:53: So, obviously, there's, instances where we see buyers talking to the selling agents that are working for the vendor or the seller and asking them for advice on, oh, well, what am I allowed to do? 5:05: Whereas, at the end of the day, that research should have been done upfront so that you become confident and you know and understand what you can do, because the second You start asking, it's going to show that you're in a position of weakness, and that's never a good position to be in. 5:19: Yes, auctions are intimidating. 5:20: Yes, auctions are stressful. 5:23: they're like a pressure cooker environment. 5:26: You know, even the auction most recently that we represented our clients at, at the completion of the auction, 3 family members were in attendance, 1 male and 2 females. 5:37: The Two females were shaking. 5:39: They had an adrenaline surge that, prevented them from feeling, you know, like they could function normally. 5:47: and even the male said that he felt completely overwhelmed regarding the process. 5:52: These are real, reactions to feelings that people endure throughout that auction experience. 5:59: and we were representing these clients, but they said, They could never have done it simply because of how they were feeling internally. 6:06: Now, as professional bidders, we see bidders, we see their feelings through their body language all the time. 6:14: Whether we're bidding at auctions or just observing auctions, we can absolutely see when buyers are feeling stressed, when they're feeling like they're, they're stretching their budget. 6:24: We can see that through their body language, and that's what professional bidders are trained to see. 6:29: and obviously, we're going to give you some hips in, tips in terms of what you can. 6:33: For in other bidders as well. 6:35: Just, just so our listeners do know, we actually do offer this as a service as well for through streamlined property buyers. 6:41: So if people find a property, and it goes to auction and they say, look, I actually don't want to do the bidding, you can actually contact us and we can be engaged for auction bidding only service, which takes that stress away as well. 6:54: some common mistakes that we see buyers making it an auction, especially, you know, when they're there to do it alone. 7:00: I, I think for me, The emotion. 7:04: Get the emotions involved, having your kids sitting there next to you tapping you going, Oh, come on, Dad, put another bit in, or Mom, come on, put a bid in. 7:12: We've seen it, and that, that is such a stressful thing to go through. 7:17: I'm also, yeah, I'm also gonna say it's the, the fathers that are bidding, on behalf of their daughters. 7:23: We've seen that a lot recently, and we've seen really how emotions can Cause people to stretch beyond their, their level of comfort, and you can see it in the way that they're bidding and in the way that their body language is, is changing. 7:38: they don't want to miss out on properties because they're buying for their daughter or they're buying for their pregnant daughter. 7:44: We've seen that as well. 7:45: and we've seen how that can really influence your bidding style and your bidding activity if you're representing a family member like that. 7:52: On the other side of it, ego. 7:54: Oh, absolutely. 7:54: We've seen that a bit too, where people go, Oh, I'm not gonna lose to him, that person, I'm gonna make sure I win. 7:58: And all of a sudden they get into this ego battle and the price just we've seen that as well, where it's just the price just continues because somebody's just so determined to win that they, they forget about the money side of things. 8:10: Sometimes ego has worked negatively in auctions that we've observed where there was absolutely no reason or requirement that a bidder or a buyer should have been. 8:19: Such, a high amount because they were bidding against the seller or, you know, against the vendor directly. 8:26: And so, again, ego can absolutely get in the way of, you know, professional, a, a, a good outcome for you as a buyer. 8:34: So it's really important that you set a plan in place and stick to it up front. 8:38: The other one I, I find, as well is when people turn up and if, you know, there's a number of people registered and And they ask for a bid and and it just, you hear crickets, it just goes dead silent and no one wants to bid and and I think wow, you know, you're actually registered, you're interested in the property, you want to buy the property. 8:57: But if you don't bid, you actually won't buy the property. 9:00: Yeah, we've been at a number of auctions where there's been multiple registered bidders and no one wants to open the auction with an opening bid. 9:06: And so, you know, it might start with a vendor bid, which is completely legal and acceptable. 9:11: That's when an auctioneer places a bid on behalf of the vendor. 9:15: but then for, for some reason, that can intimidate buyers thinking, well, you know, I don't want to pay as much as the vendor thinks it's worth. 9:22: And Quite often, auctions can lose momentum without that, buyer interaction. 9:28: So, as a buyer, when you're registered to bid at an auction, we always encourage, buyers to get involved at the level that they see value. 9:36: Now, regardless of where that is, most auctioneers will accept an opening bid regardless of the level that it's at. 9:43: we have seen in some instances where an opening bid may be rejected, but that's very. 9:48: Common most of the time they'll accept an opening bid, to encourage other buyers to get involved. 9:54: I'm also gonna say bid increments. 9:56: that's a big mistake that we've seen, a lot of buyers make, and that is always providing the bid increment that the auctioneer is asking for. 10:06: And this is especially true when a property is called on the market. 10:10: Now, what is hard sometimes for a lot of buyers to determine is that, that moment or that subtle change when a property passes the reserve price and the auctioneer's language does change in that the property has actually reached a point that the sellers will sell upon the fall of the hammer. 10:28: , in Queensland, there is no obligation for the auctioneer to call the property on the market. 10:33: We often see buyers say, Is it on the market yet? 10:36: You know, are we selling for keeps yet? 10:39: and when those questions are posed during an auction, quite often auctioneers or the selling agent that's working with The auctioneer will, will come back and say it's been on the market for 4 weeks. 10:51: It's on the market, whether it's actually going to sell under the hammer, under auction conditions, quite often depends on the subtle language that an auctioneer will use. 10:59: And that's only 3 years of experience and understanding different auctioneers that you can often pick that point. 11:04: Some auctioneers will make that very, very obvious. 11:07: They will use language such as we are selling, or we are now on the market. 11:12: And when you hear these words, you know that the auction now has passed the point of the vendor's reserve, and that the highest bidder will be the winning bidder in that instance. 11:23: The mistake we see is when a property is called on the market or that subtle language changes, and the auctioneer is still asking for really strong bid increments. 11:33: They might still be asking for $50,000 increments or $20,000 increments, and buyers are potentially still giving that. 11:40: We've seen buyers win when a property's been on the market by $50,000 where they may have only needed to pay. 11:47: 30 or $4000 to be ahead of the next bidder. 11:52: And this is a huge mistake because this can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and these are not, stories we're making up. 11:58: This is evidence that we've collected over many years of being at auctions throughout Brisbane, and these are the real mistakes that we see buyers make. 12:05: On the, I'll mix a couple of things up here. 12:07: So we always, we do see this a lot, you know, is it on the market? 12:10: I'm not going to bid until it's on the market. 12:12: Well, whether it's on the market or not, you won't buy it if you don't bid, as I said earlier, so. 12:16: There's no, there's no reason you should sit back and go, well, I'm gonna wait until it comes on the market to bid, because you might as well bid if you are interested in the property. 12:24: As you said about the auctioneer controlling the bids, if it's not actually reached a reserve, so when we talk about going on the market, the, the seller will have a reserve that they will set on the property. 12:36: Now, quite often you find, and this, this will vary a little bit, but let's say we're at an auction and you, you offer them 5 or 10 and the auctioneer says, look, I'm not gonna take that at the moment. 12:46: That possibly means the language is, we are not near a reserve. 12:50: So we're not we're not at a stage where they're going to sell the property. 12:54: So that's possibly why he's trying to push it up a little bit more, because he knows the reserve, and he knows where you've got to get to to try and get the property on the market to sell. 13:03: Let me just unpack that a little bit more because there might be some people listening to the podcast that don't understand what we mean when we're using the terminology of the reserve price. 13:12: Prior to the auction, the seller will actually provide written instructions to the auctioneer and the selling agent of the price, the Minimum price that they will accept on auction day. 13:26: That is documented in writing. 13:28: And so when an auction opens, if the bidding activity from buyers does not reach the instructions that are in writing that that auctioneer holds, then the property generally will pause, and there'll be that moment of negotiation because the property has not passed reserve. 13:47: In auctions that don't pause, usually that is because The bidding activity from the crowd has exceeded the written instructions or the reserve price that the seller has put in place prior to the auction. 14:00: And that's the fundamental difference in Queensland in relation to auctions that have that moment of pause, and auctions that don't pause and they'll continue to bid until they're sold. 14:11: Every seller will have written instructions, sometimes during negotiation, those written instructions may change through negotiation in that the The selling agent receives a change of instructions, and again, that's generally in writing or verified through multiple sources. 14:29: and that means that the seller may be, willing to accept a lower price through negotiation with a buyer, and that will happen when an auction pauses, but we can unpack that a little bit more later. 14:38: On the, on the pause while we're there, and I'll jump onto it straight away. 14:42: On a pause if there's a negotiation and say for example, I am holding the bid. 14:46: , and they say, look, we're just gonna pause the auction, we're just gonna go and have some negotiations. 14:52: I don't get the right, just as the negotiation directly. 14:55: Yes, I'm holding the top bid, and they will come and talk to me and they will talk to the sellers. 15:00: If I'm not prepared to move from my my, bid number that I'm sitting at. 15:06: They have every single right to go and talk to every other single buyer in the crowd and see if they are prepared to increase, to try and get the property on the market and reach a reserve that the the negotiations between the vendor and the seller will come to a stage where they say, hey, we're happy to sell it for that price. 15:23: Even in the negotiation, you can still increase your price. 15:26: If you don't get to a stage where you meet the reserve or a price the vendor's prepared to sell it, they'll take that increase, but they'll probably pass the property in. 15:34: OK, they can open it up for people to have another bid, but if it doesn't reach that level, they have every right to pass the property in. 15:42: And I'd like to just unpack a little bit more off the back of what you've just said there, Scott, and that is, in Queensland, which is different to other state jurisdictions, if you are the highest bidder at the point that the property passes in, our legislation does not afford you the right for exclusive negotiation with the seller. 16:02: That does not exist here in Queensland. 16:04: So if you are the highest bidder and the property passes in, every single buyer in the market will now have the opportunity to submit an offer, and it will become a blind process. 16:15: It will become a multiple offer process. 16:18: And what you generally find is that there may be conditional buyers, that is, buyers that were unable to, be prepared and ready to bid unconditionally without that cooling off period and without that finance, finance clause. 16:32: They may be prepared. 16:34: Pay a higher price for the property, but they still need their conditions. 16:38: And so, in the instance that a property passes in, if you're the highest bidder, you don't retain any exclusive right. 16:45: The negotiation then opens up to every buyer that may still be interested in the property above the level that the property passes in. 16:52: And just so you know, the, the agent has does not have to tell you the price that you're actually bidding against then. 17:00: So when it becomes that, private negotiation, multiple offer,, they, they can't actually tell you what the other offers are. 17:08: So you got, as Melinda said, you, it's a blind, hidden sort of auction. 17:14: I, I prefer an open auction standing in the, on the front lawn in the backyard or whatever it may be, and you actually know what the under bidder's prepared to pay, and if you pay a little bit more, I much prefer that than going to multi multi multiple offer, so. 17:27: Yeah, you don't have that negotiation directly as well. 17:30: So, jump onto some preparations. 17:33: So obviously we we've talked about people feeling intimidated, mistakes people make. 17:38: Preparation I think is, is key on this, and especially when, even for us working with a client, preparing our client so that they know what to expect on the day and what we're, how we're going to act, how we're going to, control the auction and what we're going to do, so. 17:53: Some different things, obviously due diligence and preparation, critical. 17:58: Absolutely. 17:59: So, I think that we can break the preparation down into two steps. 18:03: First, all of the due diligence must be completed up front. 18:06: That is, understanding the property, the zoning, the nearby development impact, the, impacts such as flood or bushfire or main roads or road resumptions. 18:17: These are all things that must be done upfront so you can understand what you're buying. 18:20: If you're buying. 18:21: in a body corporate scheme, understanding the, the scheme itself, the, insurance that's in place that is covered, the contributions that you'll make to the sinking fund and to the administration fund, reviewing the minutes from the previous two years of meetings. 18:37: These are all due diligence items that must be conducted upfront before you buy, so you can have confidence in what you're buying. 18:46: I'll also say price. 18:48: It is so It's so important that you have an understanding of price before you go to auction. 18:53: We always talk about price in two ways. 18:55: We talk about objective value first. 18:58: Objective value involves placing a price on the property based on the most recent comparable sales that are similar to the property that you're looking at. 19:08: you can assess the land size, you can assess any impacts on the, the properties, you can assess the property size, the layout, the orientation, the condition of the property. 19:17: And come to a determination as to whether the property you're looking at is superior to or inferior to any recent comparable sales, and you can give yourself a range upon which you feel that the objective value sits. 19:30: Now, of course, property is not always purely purchased with a calculator. 19:35: So we'd also talk about what we call subjective value. 19:38: This is the emotional premium that a home buyer might be prepared to pay for the property that is For sale by auction. 19:46: Now, that is something that cannot be measured, because that's going to come down to the scarcity. 19:51: It's going to come down to how frequently this type of home becomes available. 19:55: It's going to come down to how much the home itself matches the ideals of that particular purchaser. 20:03: For some people, a subjective or an emotional premium might be small, for others it might be quite large, and that is very difficult to price. 20:12: So when we're working with our buyers, we'll provide objective value because that is our role, to not get emotional about the purchase, but we'll also help them to understand the movement of the market, whether the market's flat, whether the market's growing, whether the market's actually retracting in value. 20:29: That gives buyers confidence to know how much emotional premium they might be prepared to pay for the property. 20:36: for investors, generally, there's no emotional premium, but for owner occupiers, quite often there will be. 20:42: And that's a number that we can discuss together. 20:44: And if you're representing yourself, it's a number that you need to be confident with prior to auction so that you can set a walk away price. 20:53: That is the most important thing when going to auction. 20:55: There's got to be an upper limit that you don't go past, and you need to set that when you're in a non-emotional state, meaning not at auction day when You've got the adrenaline and the shakes and the, you know, the fueled anxiety because of the pressure cooker environment, that must be done 1 or 2 days prior when you're feeling, like you're not in that pressure cooker environment. 21:16: Set a walkaway price and stick to it. 21:19: That way, there's no emotional premium that you're going to pay over and above what you've already factored in. 21:24: , without that pressure cooker environment. 21:27: Now, a thing we do with our clients is we'll do a pre-auction meeting. 21:30: So, in the pre-auction with the, meeting with the client, and we'll talk about different scenarios. 21:35: So how things could play out on the day, there's never a set, this is how it's going to happen. 21:41: This is, this is what's going to happen, because you don't know how many people are registered, how many people are going to bid, you don't know the, the vendor's expectations, all of those things are so different in, in many ways. 21:52: So, There's so many different scenarios, but we'll help our, our clients understand how things could play out and different ways that we could actually move and try and, I keep talking about controlling the auction, OK, to try and control and run the auction in a way that we want to run it. 22:07: Absolutely. 22:08: And You know, just to, as an example, you might turn up to the auction and you might be one of 15 or 20 bidders. 22:16: In that scenario, the way you might actually approach the auction could be very different, compared to a scenario where you might be only, one of 2 or 3 bidders. 22:27: The competition that you are up against will often determine the strategy that might be best for you in that scenario. 22:35: There are times where you may attend an auction and you might be the only registered bidder. 22:40: Does that mean that you're, you're the only interested buyer? 22:43: Not always, because sometimes there can be conditional interest in those conditional buyers that we talked about previously, that is, they need a finance clause, or they're just not ready to bid under auction terms, they'll be waiting on the sideline hoping that that property passes in. 22:57: So, whilst you have the opportunity to Negotiate if you are the only registered bidder. 23:02: Quite often, an auctioneer won't open the auction to have, an open dialogue between a buyer and a seller publicly, because that would be, that would mean placing a lot of vendor bids on behalf of the seller. 23:14: Instead, that will be a private negotiation to see if the property can sell under auction terms. 23:20: if not, it will be open to all parties, that may be. 23:23: Interested, whether conditional or unconditional. 23:26: Biggest tip that I have for any buyers that may not be too familiar with the auction process in Brisbane, and yet they've found a property that's going to be for sale by auction. 23:36: If you're not wanting to pay for professional representation, my advice is this Go and experience auctions in the lead up to your own. 23:45: Ask the agent who The auctioneer is going to be, and find out which auctions they're calling in the weekends in the lead up. 23:53: So you can get an understanding of that auctioneer's style and that auctioneer's language, so you can feel more comfortable when you're in the position of that pressure cooker environment yourself, and you're able to control the emotions more because you've experienced that feeling prior. 24:08: That's my biggest tip for anyone. 24:10: That's looking to participate in an auction. 24:13: Understand the auctioneer and go and watch some of their auctions. 24:17: That's, that's so important, and, look, I know it sounds probably a little bit extreme, but there's some auctioneers in Brisbane. 24:23: I know what footy team they go for and I know what coffee they drink. 24:26: we get to know who these people are and how they, we get to know so well that, We can read their body language, we know how they're gonna talk. 24:33: We know how they're going to act. 24:34: We, we know how they'll probably negotiate. 24:37: OK, so that's the advantage you have. 24:39: So, I know you're not gonna get to know them that well, but as Melinda said, go and watch them, see how they talk, see how they interact with people and get an understanding of the jokes they say and all those sort of things. 24:48: You, you'll get to know a lot more if you have that experience on your side as well. 24:53: Absolutely. 24:54: Let's talk about, You know, a couple of strategies that we've seen some buyers, participate in, if you like, bidding late or bidding right at the end, waiting for the property to be called on the market, you know, 2nd call, 3rd and final call, and this new bidder comes in. 25:10: is that really the best tactic? 25:12: Oh, look, probably not. 25:14: As I said at the start, if, if you're there to bid it, and this is also this one probably reflects a little bit to, we, we talked earlier on the ego side of it and getting offside with the auctioneer. 25:26: OK, don't forget that the auctioneer's there to do a job and he's working for, A person the same as everyone else, they're just selling their house as opposed to buying it, they'll probably become a buyer. 25:37: so he's actually trying to do the right thing by the sellers, by the client, and obviously by you as a buyer, for you to not bid and participate, you, you're not actually helping the auctioneer either. 25:49: So you want to get on the right side of the auctioneer a little bit to sit on the. 25:52: Sit out the back and go, No, no, no, I'm just gonna wait till it's called on, on the market. 25:55: I'm not gonna do anything. 25:57: You're not doing yourself any favors, I don't think. 25:59: And I think that's different to participating early and then taking a wait and see approach, and that's quite often something that, as professional bidders, we may do. 26:08: We might start the auction, depending on the number of registered bidders, and then just sit and wait to see who else is actually in. 26:14: , and participating and bidding at that particular moment. 26:18: If it does slow down and we still hold instructions and it hasn't reached reserve or it's not on the market, we may continue to participate to ensure, until we're confident, that the competition is actually thinning out. 26:32: I think it's really important for any bidder to, as much as they can control the pace of the auction. 26:39: Now, when you are holding the bid, that is, you are the highest bidder, you're not thinking. 26:45: Someone else is thinking. 26:46: And that's an incredibly powerful position to be in, especially if you don't like that pressure cooker feeling. 26:53: So, therefore, as soon as someone bids, if you know that you have capacity to pay more and you're still within that set. 26:59: It jumping in aggressively and just over the top of where another bidder might be puts that pressure back on them to do the thinking, and it actually is a very powerful way to show strength in your auction bidding, strategy. 27:14: Now, that doesn't always work because it does depend on the opposition that you might be up against. 27:19: One thing that we're always watching is who are the other bidders. 27:23: You know, We're bidding against other professional buyer's agents, we may take a different approach compared to if we're bidding against emotional bidders. 27:31: we often watch, the bidder's body language. 27:34: We can see when they're out through their facial expression, through their hand movements, through their shoulder movements, and their whole dominia. 27:40: So it's so, critical that you try and maintain a poker face and a poker stance if you are bidding. 27:47: Sunglasses and hats are actually great because you can hide behind those. 27:52: and, and that's just a small tip that we will give you, because if you're wearing your emotion on your face, professional bidders will see it, and absolutely the auctioneer and the sales agent will see it. 28:01: So that obviously gives information to them that, you may not want to share. 28:06: Don't be on the phone. 28:07: No, that's probably my big tip. 28:09: I see so many people that are on the phone and, and I've even seen some professional people, and I, they're taking instructions on the phone and I, That I, I don't get it, sorry, I'm, that's probably one bit I just go, don't be on the phone because you're not in control and you've got someone talking to you. 28:25: You're half engaged and, and your attention is actually, being disturbed or diverted because you're trying to do two things at once, having instructions, and being able to execute on those instructions in the same way that a, a bidder would have their final number in mind, in the back of their mind, enables you to execute without, the constant, I guess, emotional surge that you may get if you're talking, if you're a husband talking to your wife on. 28:54: Phone, I've heard that very close by to me at auctions when we've been bidding, where, the husband's there to bid, but the wife might be at home with the children, and they're having the conversation. 29:04: People around you can hear those conversations, and that can give professional bidders, an advantage because we can hear when, when people are being stretched. 29:13: and that enables us to, to be, more aggressive if we still have instructions at a higher level to intimidate them further, to help them, just pull up and, and hopefully get a result for our clients. 29:23: So these are some Of the strategies that professional bidders do do, because remember, we don't have the emotional connection to the property that most bidders would have if they're representing themselves. 29:32: And don't be afraid to negotiate. 29:33: I, I think that's something that don't be afraid that because if you do get to negotiate, at least you'll get a bit of an idea of where the vendor's expectations are and where they might have set their reserve. 29:43: So don't take it all, exactly like if the auctioneer comes back or the agent comes back and say, look, you gotta get to this price, doesn't mean you have to straight away. 29:52: You can negotiate. 29:53: So,, just be careful of that one as well. 29:56: , understanding the auctioneer, as we talked about the crowd, reading, reading the numbers, understanding what's happening on the day, really important. 30:03: So make sure you're there. 30:05: We work in twos, so we'll have two people, one person will be scribing, so taking in our numbers, gives you a bit of an opportunity then between the two people when we, we're together, is to actually read the crowd more and, and be able to see how people are behaving. 30:18: I'd like to just, wrap things up for this podcast with some red flags to look out for at auctions. 30:24: And these are things that we, as a professional team, have seen happening in Brisbane. 30:29: So you need to be aware of them, and mindful that you're not going to be, you know, participating or in an auction where this is happening. 30:38: The first thing is, watch for, watch all of the other bidders as they're bidding. 30:43: So be in a position where you can actually see all of the bidders that are raising paddles. 30:48: dummy bidding is illegal in Queensland as it is in, in all jurisdictions across the country. 30:54: so we cannot, if you cannot see a bidder, and you're not sure who's holding a bid, and you suspect that there's no one holding the bid, you have a right to ask the auctioneer for, who's holding the bid or what bidder number are they and to point them out in the crowd. 31:09: , we have seen dummy bidding take place in Brisbane, and it breaks my heart that this happens because it is illegal activity. 31:16: , however, what we want to ensure is that as professional bidders, this just is, is wiped out of the industry because every buyer deserves a fair playing field. 31:28: And so being in a position where you can watch all other bidders, gives you the best opportunity to ensure that you're bidding against real people and, and there's not someone or something trying to drive up the price in a way that is illegal. 31:42: My second biggest tip is to ensure prior to auction day that you request a copy of the contract and you have that reviewed by a representative, a legal representative. 31:53: So, send it to the solicitor or the conveyancer that's going to be representing you so that they can check the terms upon which you're bidding. 32:00: We have seen more recently with the introduction. 32:02: The new seller disclosure laws. 32:04: some agencies in Brisbane have been inserting special conditions, which remove some rights of the buyer in relation to the new seller disclosure. 32:14: this, again, is illegal, and the REIQ are aware that this is happening. 32:19: unfortunately, with new legislation, when we see, people Trying to contract out of legislative change, it can actually result in illegal activity taking place. 32:29: So make sure you know what you're signing, get the contracts reviewed by legal professionals before you turn up on auction day, because once you're there, you won't know what all of those special conditions might mean. 32:40: So have them reviewed prior. 32:42: Additionally, ask the auctioneer, or rather the agent in the lead up, how much money you're going to need if you are the winning bidder, and how soon do you need to deposit that money into their trust account. 32:54: Then check with your bank to make sure that you have the capacity to transfer that amount on auction day. 32:58: If it's required on that day. 33:00: Really important tip, because if you don't have the capacity to pay, you may be in, default of the contract conditions. 33:07: So you need to make sure that all of your ducks are lined up in a row. 33:10: And finally, make sure that you know the entity that you're purchasing in. 33:14: And you're able to provide evidence of that when you're registering to bid on auction day. 33:18: That is, if it's in your name, take your identification documents. 33:22: If it's in a company or a trust or an SMSF, ensure that you've got the documents to support, that, that identification process. 33:29: That's absolutely critical. 33:31: I've got some, I've got some real simple ones, and I've seen this happen before at an auction we actually went and watched. 33:38: the property was called on the market and somebody offered $50,000 and they bought the property. 33:44: I was shocked. 33:45: straight up $50,000 above, and it's on the market. 33:48: I don't know why they had to go that high. 33:51: So spent 3 or 4 or you didn't I didn't need to spend that much again, that, that shocked me a little bit. 33:56: The other one I don't quite understand, again, it's each to their own, so don't, don't. 34:00: Take me that, you know, I'm not saying you have to do this, but I mean, we, we offer this as a service. 34:05: and it's a very, very, very affordable. 34:07: I think it's actually a very cheap service. 34:10: and we bid for people at auctions. 34:11: Quite often, people say, oh, no, I've got the, I've got the agent, and one of his associates or someone, they're going to, they're going to do the bidding for me over the phone. 34:20: At the end of the day, all I can say is they're working for the vendor. 34:23: They're actually not working for the, for the buyer at all. 34:25: Their, their job is to get the best price they can for the vendor and sell the property. 34:29: , yeah, they'll, they'll do that for you, and probably at no cost at all, but again, just keep in mind. 34:35: They've actually been engaged and they're getting paid by the vendor to sell that property and do the best they can for it. 34:40: So therefore, how much does it really cost you? 34:42: So, it might be hidden in the purchase price that you end up paying. 34:46: And look, you know, hopefully some of the tips we've shared with you will help you just to understand, you know, what is involved in bidding at auction. 34:53: some people find it incredibly intimidating, and if that's you, and if you are looking to buy at auction, I'd definitely recommend seeking professional representation for, the small in The, the savings can be enormous, and especially if you are an emotional buyer, it can really help you to get an understanding of where to draw the line when it comes to purchasing property. 35:14: of course, if you are, confident and you're prepared to do it alone, I think that many of the tips we've shared with you, will provide some enormous value in terms of how you should approach auction day and also the lead up and, and things that you need to ensure you're completing prior. 35:30: So that's wrap. 35:31: 2nd and 3rd call. 35:33: Done. 35:33: Sold. 35:35: look, hopefully that's been useful information. 35:37: we're always here to help and hopefully share as many tips and info as we can with, our listeners. 35:43: as usual, I will let Melinda wrap it up, and I'll talk again next week. 35:46: Thanks very much. 35:47: Take care and bye for now. 35:48: Yes, thank you so much once again for joining us on the Brisbane Property Podcast. 35:52: We hope you've enjoyed these auction tips that we've shared with you today. 35:55: And if you know someone bidding at auction in Brisbane in the near future, please share this episode with them. 36:00: We would love for you to leave us a review also on your favorite podcast player. 36:04: the more reviews that we receive, the more likely others are to find this content. 36:08: We hope you have a fabulous week and until next week, bye for now.