Buying a house on a repossessed house auction can be a great way to find a real property bargain. You will need to know where to find information on repossessed house auctions in South Africa.
Repossessed house auctions have become a far more common way of purchasing property in recent years. The global recession has resulted in many South African home-owners being over-extended. The result of this is an overflow of properties being repossessed by the banks. The easiest and quickest ways for the banks to re-sell these properties is auctions, and hence this form of property sale has burgeoned in popularity.
There are numerous auction houses operating in South Africa. Auction Alliance is an auction house specialising in property sales. Aucor is another key player on the South African property market playing field.
If you are looking for repossess house auctions in South Africa, popular property websites are a good place to start. The Property24 website lists upcoming repossessed property auction dates, as do many of the other leading property websites. Iol.co.za also lists repossessed property auctions by the auction house, and allows you to search by your specific criteria.
The big South African banks all offer their own version of repossessed property auctions, usually linked to an auction house or a bond originator. FNB has an offer called Quicksell, focussed on repossessed properties or on properties where owners realise they can no longer afford to pay the bond. This offer provides over-extended owners with an easy way out, and at the same time provides property for sale via auction at reasonable prices.
Myroof.co.za is linked to Standard Bank’s property repossession arm, and lists property auctions by price, type of property and price range.
You could also trawl through the leading auction houses’ websites, which list upcoming property auctions along with other types of auctions. Aucor, for example specialises in furniture, cars, antiques, art, engineering equipment, jewellery and valuables and other categories in addition to the large property portfolio they offer.
Most auction houses will offer property auctions for properties that have not been repossessed as well. Usually in these cases, the seller will be relocating or will need to sell in a hurry, and selling a house on auction is considerably quicker than selling it through the regular channels.
There are a few things to be aware of when buying property on auction. The most important is that property on auction is sold “voetstoets” unless other specified. This means literally that the property is sold as is. Therefore, ensure you inspect the property thoroughly beforehand, and if possible have an electrician inspect the wiring in the house as well. Once you have purchased a property voetstoets, you have no further claim to the previous owners for anything that may be defective.
Repossessed house auctions emerge out of a tough economic situation, and having your home repossessed is a difficult thing to go through. However, as a buyer, be sure to consider repossessed house auctions as an option, as you may pick up a sweet deal!