Auction finance that beats the hammer

Property auctions run on deadlines ordinary mortgages cannot meet. Traditional auction: contracts exchange at the hammer, ten percent deposit that day, completion on the date in the legal pack, often around four weeks, sometimes less. Miss it and the deposit is gone. The modern method gives longer, typically 56 days, which sounds comfortable and still is not, because most term mortgage processes cannot reliably hit it either.

So here is how I run auction deals, learned the careful way over 2,400 completions: the work happens before the auction, not after. We review the lot and the legal pack together, I issue indicative terms, typically within 24 hours, and line up a lender decision in principle against the property, so you walk into the room knowing your ceiling, your costs and your exit. Then bidding becomes arithmetic instead of adrenaline. After the hammer, my job is chasing the valuation and the solicitors, because in my experience they, not the lender, are what threatens a deadline.

And do not be put off by an unmortgageable lot; be interested. No kitchen, short lease, structural work, sitting tenants: these are usually why the property is at auction and why it is priced the way it is. Bridging lenders fund exactly these, and where works are planned we build the refurbishment costs and the exit refinance, onto BTL, HMO or commercial terms, into one structure from the start.

What we arrange auction finance for

• Traditional unconditional auction purchases with fixed completion deadlines
• Modern method (conditional) purchases with reservation periods
• Unmortgageable lots: no kitchen, short lease, structural work, sitting tenants
• Refurbishment costs funded within the facility
• Pre-auction terms and decisions in principle before you bid
• Exit refinances onto BTL, HMO or commercial mortgages, agreed upfront

Also see: Bridging Loans · BRR & Conversion Bridging · HMO & Multi-Unit Finance · Free Deal Stacking Calculator