You have just endured a lively bidding war for that perfect property and had your final bid accepted by the auctioneer. The property is yours! But there are still some important formalities to go through.
Both the vendor and you have to sign a counterpart of the Contract and then an exchange of Contracts is performed by the agent after you have paid the required deposit (usually 10% but sometimes 5%). From that moment on both parties are legally obliged to proceed with the transaction.
But wait a moment. It’s not that simple. Most purchasers, wise ones at least, will ask their solicitor to review a Contract before the auction to ascertain if there are are any problems they should know about before committing their hard-earned money.
After giving their advice to the purchaser, often the solicitor will send an e-mail to the vendor’s solicitor requesting various amendments to the Contract to protect the interests of the purchaser if their client is successful at the auction. Usually, the vendor will agree to some but not all of the requested amendments. Provided the purchaser also agrees then he or she can proceed to the auction knowing that the Contract will be amended before the time comes to sign.
So, before getting too carried away with having secured the property at the auction, a purchaser should ensure that the agent was copied in on any e-mails regarding amendments to the Contract and should bring copies of such e-mail correspondence to the auction in any case.
Next, with the eye of an eagle, the purchaser must watch as the agent makes all the agreed changes to the Contract! Then and only then should the purchaser sign the document.
March 2023