What's it like to buy a house via online auction?

Many of us are fairly used to shopping from the couch, whether it’s for the family groceries, an outfit you just spotted on sale, or even booking a holiday. But what about buying a home?

That became a reality for some people last week, as measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 meant in-person auctions were cancelled. Instead, agents are utilising technology to hold online auctions, with prospective buyers bidding via digital platforms or over the phone.

Tom was one of the successful buyers at an online auction during the first week, purchasing a home in Page through Ray White Canberra.

Ray White Canberra’s auctions are now streamed online, while registered bidders are each assigned an agent who accepts their bids over the phone and bids on their behalf, while the bidder watches on via the live stream.

It was the first time ever bidding at an auction for Tom, who had attended live auctions in person before but had never submitted a bid.

"Ahead of the auction, the Ray White agent informed me about the process, and also advised me to watch an online auction that they'd filmed before so I had an understanding of what was going on," he said.

Tom was one of four bidders registered during his auction. He said that while he didn’t find the process daunting, there are some considerations you have to make for the online auctions.

“The online auction was ok - it's not as personal as a face to face auction,” he said.

“Sometimes there are some delays because of the technology, so there were times where there were a few seconds between what was happening at the site and from my end, so that's something different to normal.”

His advice to others going into online auctions, particularly given you’re not physically there, is to just make sure you have everything in order beforehand, even more so than you would usually.

“I think you just need to prepare in advance so you feel comfortable,” said Tom.

“We knew the agent would sign the contract on our behalf, so we had legal advice before to make sure that the contract was fine, and also asked the agent to talk to the seller about some conditions we wanted to put in. I’d also suggest talk to your bank about the auction and if they have any ideas or suggestions. And the Ray White agent who helped me was quite helpful, so that makes the process easier.”