Lesson 6 Bidding

What I want you to do is understand the status of the property.
Are you looking at it when it's just new to the market?
What's the activity like?
Are there other people coming in and making bids very, very quickly?
Does that make you uncomfortable?
What's the speed of the sale looking like as you're engaging at this stage?
What is your budget?
What is your comfort level?
At what level of your approval do you start to get butterflies in your stomach?
That could be in relation to interest rates, your repayment requirements, the unknown quantity with the work to be done to a property. Everything has inherent risk, but just be mindful to jot down those feelings and what that may mean to you should you make a bid, because it means you won't have buyer's remorse later on. When you've made a bid, and if it is accepted, there's quite some time before you actually work through that process and hopefully get the keys. What you want is to still want the property on day one and still want the property on day 21, and asking yourself these questions earlier in the process is far more useful for you.
Then when you're looking at it, I want you to understand what are the timelines involved? Is there an issue from your perspective if you're renting and giving notice? Are the sellers in a rush? If they have a property to sell as the one you're looking at, do they have somewhere to go? Do they have a property in the country, down in the country, abroad, wherever it may be, that gives them an opportunity to work ahead? Are they realistic from what you see? Do they have a figure in mind? They probably won't tell you this, but when you're dealing with someone, you can understand the nuances of that particular property.
When you're bidding, you want to understand a few other things. Let's imagine you've gone through that previous process that I explained there. You've understood the seller's circumstances. You have a rough idea of the timelines and what's expected. Now, that's not to guarantee prices, I will absolutely say that, but it's more to give you an indication of where you form part of this role, part of this process. So, let's imagine that you're ready to bid. First and foremost, before you make your bid, you want to get a very quick top-level view of who you're up against. And by that I mean if you're planning on bidding X and there's already a bid that has come in this morning of that, you're going to be doubling up and wasting your time. So, just reconfirm that the current bid is Y and then you can make a decision on what you're going to do.
Then what I want you to do is send an email to the agent, unless it's a bidding platform. I would also send an email to the agent regardless, that you're confirming your stats. "My name is Andrew, I'm X buyer. We met on Tuesday and I'd like to make an offer and it is cash or it is mortgage. I'm ready to go, proactive, and I'm mindful of what I'm looking for, X, Y, Z." Now, this is more to give you that simple example for you, as to how you're going to proceed. An agent is going to log these bids and they're going to act accordingly. Their job is to get the best price for their seller. But in this circumstance, what you want to do each time is understand the nuances of each part of this process.
If there's a bid above what you're going to spend, you're better off knowing now so you can reflect and either step in with a different bid or step away knowing it's above your comfort level. And each time you want to make a bid, you just want to understand the circumstances at play: if there are other bidders, if there's two bidders or if there are 22 bidders. Does it seem like the other bidder is running away with it? That the impression you get is that they're putting in increments that are two or three times the amount that you're willing to spend? Maybe you're up against someone who's just going to spend whatever it's going to take to get that particular property. But each example has a very different feel to it. But if you have a very simple framework to when you look at each property in terms of the bidding, it can get you far clear on what you want to do.
And above all else, please, please, please don't bid on 800 properties at the same time. It's not going to help your case. Be focused on what you want, be really measured in what you want, and the more focused you are, the more attention you can pay to it.
So, in simple terms, quality is better than quantity. Be communicative, be open, and when you decide you're going to not proceed anymore, be clear that you're not going to proceed, step away and keep looking. Throughout, communication is key. I wish you happy bidding, the best of luck with it, and don't be afraid to pause, think, and then take a look at bidding.