Welcome to our 11th March Auction Sale
We kicked off 2025 with a huge auction in February that saw over two thirds of the stock on offer selling with a total sales value of some £37.5 Million. When looking at these results it is important to remember we don’t “cull” lots before the auction. Unlike any other national auctioneer, and most others, ours is a live auction in a venue where bidders can choose to attend the sale in-person or bid online. The online only auctioneers will know if they have a bidder, or bidders, registered for a particular lot before the sale commences, if a lot has no registered bidders (and as they don’t hold a venue sale where bidders can simply turn up on the day), they withdraw that lot before the auction commences and therefore, massage their overall result to give the impression that their sales success rate is really high.
Sadly, this has become an increasing trend with many, if not most, online only auctioneers and means that when comparing performance, the data is so opaque it’s impossible to decipher.
However, our clients love what we do with a unique offering, our buyers have unanimously confirmed that wherever possible, they would like to attend our sales rather than bid in the sterile online environment so, we will continue to do what we do!
This auction is a little more compact than our February sale and we have done this to make sure all the lots can be offered on one day commencing at 10am and probably ending the sale I would estimate by about 5:30pm. It therefore means those attending the auction won’t be required to wait around until very late in the day for their lot to come up and, buyers shopping for several lots can avoid the early morning commuter rush but still get back home in plenty of time.
We have also focused in on highly saleable lots that are well priced offering superb value for money. Of course as a buyer, this auction provides the opportunity to purchase your lot before the stamp duty change but remember, you must complete your purchase on or before 31st March 2025. Our sellers will normally allow early completion but if you do intend to bid and want to complete your purchase before the SDLT deadline, make sure your solicitor / conveyancer is able to do this and ask them to check with us or the seller’s solicitor that this will be possible regardless of the completion date shown in the Special Conditions of Sale.
As always, my team here at Barnard Marcus and at our regional auction centres are on standby to help with all your enquiries in the lead up to the auction. Make sure you are well prepared for the auction day itself. Not only do we assume that you have viewed the lots you are bidding for but also, downloaded the legal pack and taken advice from your solicitor/conveyancer prior to bidding. If successful on the day you will need to pay the deposit plus contract fee we charge and, have all your funding arrangements in place for completion.
Finally, we spend a significant amount of money hosting the auction as a live event at The Grand Connaught Rooms near Covent Garden in London. Whilst you can bid via the internet or by phone (provided you have pre-registered), I would encourage you to come along to the sale and don’t risk securing your next home, development opportunity or investment to your internet connection. If your wi-fi stops, your signal drops or anything else at the critical moment you simply can’t bid and someone else will have bought the lot you worked so hard to buy.
This can’t happen in the auction room, all you need to do is wave at us to indicate your bid and, as my colleagues are there as well, any last minute questions you have can be answered immediately before you bid.
We look forward to welcoming you at The Grand Connaught Rooms on Tuesday 11th March and wish you the very best of luck with your bidding!
