Auctions seem to be a fair game. Every bidder gets a fair chance and would be outdone or would outdo others eventually with money. When you take a broad or generic approach, an auction seems simple. When you delve into the details, you would realise the intricacies are far too complicated. You cannot pre-empt what price a property would get sold at. It is possible that a seemingly desirable property gets only one bid and an apparently less desirable property becomes a hotbed.
Practice makes perfect - and it holds true in case of bidding at auctions. Since you cannot have enough practice without sufficient real encounters, you should get accustomed with the common auction mistakes so you can avert them.
- Many bidders hesitate while bidding. They are often unsure if they should bid, how much they should bid, if they should continue bidding and where they would stop. There is obviously a budget to consider and one can always bid up to that price. Till then, there shouldn’t be any holding back. Many bidders will start pondering and would get anxious when they get close to their upper limit. Pausing or hesitating in any way will make it obvious to other bidders that you are almost done. This will encourage them to keep pushing, even if it is just a slight raise, and you would eventually give in. Consider this behaviour like a ‘tell’ in a game of poker. - Instead, you should master the art of bluffing. Don’t let other bidders know that you are at your last bid or you don’t have any more room. You would be amazed to know how many bidders manage to buy properties at the very last bid!
- Don’t begin with an extremely poor offer. Even if the base price is low, you should make a bid for what you think the property is worth, or what its true worth is. Place a bid depending on how much you wish to spend and not because there is a scope to make a low bid. A low bid will attract many other low bidders and that can end up raising the price substantially. Instead, if you make a reasonably high bid, then those who had thought of bidding low will back off. You may not have any further bidding on the property.
- When you bid, always be assertive, loud and express your intent of purchasing. You can back off any time you want should there be a bid you don’t wish to outmatch.
