and complete in a couple of weeks,” says Wincup. “The thing is to hold your nerve, as it can happen fast. One lady, who had spent six months searching and seen 50 properties, walked away from a great deal – a £100,000 fl at in Estepona,” says Wincup. “We sold it later that day for £40,000 more.” Practically every buyer and seller at
Wincup’s auctions is British. They are mostly investors who have made their money from property. “The buyers have cash, so don’t need mortgages, and the sellers typically have large portfolios and appreciate that you can’t win on every deal,” says Wincup. “Very few people are holiday home owners. They can’t usually afford to sell for what their property is now worth.” It’s always advisable to view a
property before you buy it at auction – but many don’t, says Wincup. “For properties up to £500,000 in central Marbella or Puerto Banus and up to £150,000 elsewhere, buyers don’t bother with viewings,” he says. It’s often because they already know
the developments and possibly even the property itself, with most
properties in an auction likely to have been marketed by agents for a year or two before. Buyers are also protected by a Safe
Purchase insurance policy that Direct Auctions holds for all the properties it sells. That protects the buyers from documentation fraud, land grab issues and the omission or falsifi cation of information by the vendor, lawyer or town hall for 20 years – so they can also sell on their property during that period with the policy still valid. “I don’t advise anyone to buy
without seeing the property. Buyers should be cautious and do thorough research. But the insurance policy does offer peace of mind,” says Wincup. To make a bid, a prospective buyer
must pay €12,000 (£9,900), which is deducted from the sales price instantly if the bid wins – and is refunded within 14 days if the bid is unsuccessful. “It stops people from coming in and making ridiculously low bids,” Wincup explains. The buyer pays a 10 per cent deposit on the day, then the remainder on completion, at a time agreed with the seller.
DO: • View the property. Experienced investors may feel
DO’S AND DON’TS OF BUYING AT AUCTION
confi dent to buy without a viewing, but, for anyone else, it’s not worth the risk.
• Be cautious. Get a good, independent lawyer to do thorough background checks on the property, its title, outstanding debts/community fees/local property taxes owed etc.
• Be fully prepared on the day of the auction, because if you are successful the buying process will be quick. Have your 10 per cent deposit ready and your mortgage arranged, if necessary.
• Have a good idea of the property’s value and its rental potential from talking to sales and lettings agents, and buying agents in advance – then set your maximum bid level accordingly. Look at what comparable properties locally have sold for recently, or whether nothing is selling and why not. Check out where rental demand is coming from and whether there are any new transport, infrastructure plans that could hinder or benefi t you.
DON’T: • Leave anything to chance. If anything sounds at all dubious
about the legality of the property or any questions have been left unanswered, walk away. There are many more properties on offer.
• Be put off by the speed of buying at auction. Sales generally complete within three weeks.
• Think it’s too cheap. It sounds odd, as the mantra since the downturn has been ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’. But auction reserve prices are an exception, says Warrick Wincup. “Go for it. If you don’t, someone else probably will.”
£2.58m to £1.44m
Currently run as the Buenaventura boutique hotel, this large property - with a six-bed villa and fi ve separate cortijo-style houses (10 further bedrooms) - in 5,000m2 gardens overlooks Los Flamingos golf course.
Why buy: A huge, versatile property ideal for someone wanting to start a businesss. Five mins walk from beach. Potential to add a further storey.
Why not buy: Too big for the average holiday home buyer. It’s about 15 mins drive from prime Marbella.
£486,000 to £272,000
Substantial four-bedroom, three-bathroom family house on a small, mature development near Guadalmansa Beach, a 20-minute drive west of Marbella. Bank valued at £486k, auction price £272k.
Why buy: It’s a fi ve-minute walk to the beach. House is well looked after and has good-quality internal fi ttings, inc. marble worktops.
Why not buy: The so-called ‘New Golden Mile’ west of Marbella covers about 10 miles, so pick your location carefully as some areas are very built up.
aplaceinthesun.com 47
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