Yes. Most Foxtons auction sales are agreed before auction day, with a buyer who has made a prior auction bid at a price you've accepted. Your property stays on the market until contracts are exchanged, so the work carries on while your buyer gets ready.
Most auction sales are agreed before auction day
Sell at auction and you might expect the whole thing to come down to one afternoon, with a gavel in it somewhere. Most of ours are settled well before that. A prior auction bid is an offer made before the auction opens: a buyer views a property, names a price, you decide, and if you accept it the buying process starts that day.
Your buyers know the auction date is coming, which is what gets them off the fence. Buyers and sellers work well together in Foxtons Auctions because they're both given all the information they need upfront, and they're both motivated for a fast sale. Turns out, that's the perfect combination to get it done fast.
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Your property stays on the market until exchange
Accepting a prior bid doesn't take your board down, and it doesn't hand the buyer exclusivity. We keep booking viewings and taking bids while your buyer's solicitor works through the auction pack. The buyer who's ready to exchange first is the one who buys your property.
That means your sale keeps moving at your pace. What happens next? Our guide to the Foxtons auction process walks through the rest of it, from appraisal to exchange.
What happens if two buyers are ready?
Say you've got two buyers, same day, both in a position to exchange. That's the moment the auction earns its place. The property goes to live bidding on BidX1 and they bid it out in the open, with every bid and every bidder visible, and it settles between them rather than landing on your desk as a decision.
Every bidder is pre-qualified and puts down a buying deposit before they can bid, whether they're buying with cash or with a mortgage. Every offer on that screen is genuine, that's not a bad place to be.
Source: This article draws on the Foxtons Auctions team, who agree prior auction bids and take sellers through to exchange every week. It reflects what they see in practice. If you have any questions on this article, email us to ask a Foxtons expert.
