Notes on how auction actually behaves, written for people deciding whether to use it.
Guide price is not a valuation
The single most persistent misunderstanding in auction. A guide price indicates where bidding starts and roughly where the seller’s expectation sits. It is not an estimate of the sale price, and a lot selling well above guide has not “gone wrong” — it has found its market.
Why the modern method exists
Traditional auction assumes a buyer who does not need a mortgage. That excludes most residential buyers. The 28-day exchange window on the modern method exists so a standard mortgage application can complete, which is what opened auction to ordinary owner-occupiers.
Where auction sales actually fall down
Rarely at the bidding. Almost always in the pack: a missing management pack, an undisclosed covenant, a title defect nobody looked at until the buyer’s solicitor did. The auction is the fast part; the preparation is where the time is won or lost.
What a fixed date is worth
Certainty of date is the product. Auction is not reliably a way to get a higher price, and anyone selling it that way is overselling. It is a way to get a decided outcome on a known day, with a buyer who has money at risk.