An auction lasts about 15 minutes. The decisions you make in those minutes can cost you tens of thousands of dollars, in either direction.
I bid for clients most weeks. Here's how to walk into auction day calm, prepared, and harder to beat than you should be.
Before the auction: do the boring stuff
Most auction losses happen in the week before, not on the day.
Finance ready. You need formal pre-approval, not just "we think you'll be fine". Talk to your broker, get it in writing, know your absolute ceiling.
Contract reviewed. Send the contract to your conveyancer the moment you're seriously interested. Have them check special conditions, easements, planning restrictions, anything odd.
Reports done. Building and pest. Strata if it's an apartment. If the property has structural concerns, an engineer's report. None of this is cheap, and you might not get the property anyway. That's the cost of doing it properly.
Price research done. Pull recent sales in the same street and the same building. Don't trust the price guide. Underquoting by 10 to 20% is common in Sydney. Treat the guide as the floor, not the ceiling.
Set your max, then set your real max
Write down the highest price you'd pay for this property if it were the last one in the world. That's your walk-away number.
Now subtract a buffer for the "I'll regret not getting it" emotion that always shows up at $20k under your ceiling. That's your real max.
Bring the number. Don't bring a range. A range is permission to spend more.
On the day
Register early. You need ID and bidder registration to bid in NSW. Don't be the person scrambling at the last minute.
Stand where you can see everyone. The auctioneer is performing, the underbidders are watching each other, and you want to read the room.
Bid with intent. Quick, confident bids signal you're ready. Slow, half-hearted bids invite the auctioneer to apply pressure. If you're going to bid, look like you mean it.
Don't bid against yourself. If the auctioneer pauses and looks at you, that's the move. You don't have to fill the silence. You don't have to nudge your own bid up.
The thing most buyers get wrong
They assume the auction is a fair fight. It isn't. The vendor's agent is there to extract the highest possible price for the seller. The auctioneer is paid to push the room.
You're the only person on your side, unless you bring someone.
This is why some clients bring me along on auction day. I do the bidding, I hold the cap, I keep the strategy. The client watches, or doesn't even come. The fee for that engagement pays for itself in a single hand signal.
After the hammer falls
If you win, you sign on the spot. There's no cooling off period for auction purchases in NSW. You pay your deposit (usually 10%) and you're locked in.
This is why the prep is non-negotiable. By the time you raise your hand, the decision should already be made.
If you lose, you go home, eat something, and move on. There's always another property. The discipline of walking away from one you couldn't justify is worth more than the win.
If you've got an auction coming up and want a sounding board, or just someone to do the bidding while you breathe,
send me a message.
