Samantha Collet - How To Buy Property at Auction: The Essential Guide to Winning Property and Buy-to-Let Bargains

Samantha Collett is the poster girl of property auction success; she started in 2004 with 15k and within three years had amassed a multimillion pound portfolio 94 per cent of which was bought at auction. She is an active property investor and writes an auction column in the Evening Standard Homes & Property. Samantha regularly shares her auction stories in her popular award-winning blog What Sam Saw Today: Confessions of a Property Developer, which has been featured in the Telegraphs Top 10 property blogs. Samantha successfully set up and later sold her property lettings agency and won the prestigious National Landlords Association (NLA) Women in Property Award (West Midlands) 2010.

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Samantha Collett

Constable & Robinson Ltd
55-56 Russell Square
London WC1B 4HP
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK by How To Books,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2014

Copyright Samantha Collett 2014

The right of Samantha Collett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
Data is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-84528-523-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-84528-528-9 (ebook)

Printed and bound in the UK

3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Cover copyright Simon Levy

I probably shouldnt start by confessing my addiction to property auctions.... but I will! And I hope you too will soon experience the joy of buying property at auction.

Property auctions are magical.

They are addictive.

They are compelling.

They are the most wonderful way to buy property.

Auctions offer a whole new property adventure and it is a journey which is fast-paced, action-packed, fun and, if you do your sums right, incredibly lucrative.

I have been buying property at auction for ten years and I love it. In that time I have bought countless properties at auction in every shape and size: from tiny studio flats to commercial premises to wrecks and even a chapel. Along the way I have made money, made mistakes and I learned from them all.

And now is the time for me to share my experiences. While property auctions are my first love, my second love is talking about property auctions: which is why I wrote this guide. Buying property at auction is awesome however, you do need to know a few ground rules and understand the process before you leap in.

How to Buy Property at Auction will guide you through the essential steps you need to successfully bid and win property at auction. Ive packed the guide full of key tips, insights, checklists, case studies and pitfalls to watch out for. And Ive tried to write it in an easy-to-read style so that you dont get bamboozled.

So Im hoping youre ready for your property auction adventure... and I will see you in the auction rooms very soon.

If you enjoy what you do, you will never work another day in your life.

(Confucius)

This pretty much sums up my life as a property investor and it is a most enjoyable life!

But no enjoyable life can be created alone.

From the first moment I decided on property investment as a career choice, Dimitris has supported and encouraged me all the way, and his unwavering belief in me has been astonishing. And so the same is true with this book. Dimitris has backed me from the start and urged me to make time and space for this project with the same importance as if it had been a property development. I am eternally grateful for his continued support, never-ending patience and ability to put up with my mad ideas.

I am incredibly fortunate to have a supportive family who always push me to try more, to be more and achieve more. Their belief in me keeps me strong. Thanks Mum and Kevin and Dad I know you would have been proud of me.

I am also blessed to have the most wonderful friends who continue to amaze me with their help and assistance. I would like to thank them all for their kind words and encouragement, and special thanks are due to Nick Dare, James Dearsley, Jo Johnson, Jo King, Nick Parkin and Ruth Partlett, whose dedication to helping me and encouraging me ensured this book became a reality.

Without the guidance of Anita Rattigan, this whole book idea would never have come to fruition. From the outset, she believed in me and pushed me further than I had ever thought was possible for me as a writer.

I also have to say thanks to all my wonderful blog readers who have been a great source of inspiration for me and a bedrock of support.

I owe a massive debt of gratitude for their valuable contributions and insights to Andrew Binstock, Director & Auctioneer at Auction House London; Guy Charrison FRICS FNAVA FNAEA FARLA FRSA Chartered Surveyor and 2011 to 2013 President of the National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers; Michael John Hayward, solicitor. Without them sharing their professional expertise this book would not have been half the book it is!

Over the years I have been fortunate to work and talk with so many people in the property industry. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone for sharing your stories, your experiences and your learnings with me. Without you, my learning curve would have been much steeper and my mistakes much more expensive.

And to all the auctioneers whose auctions I have ever attended: thank you for creating such a fun, fulfilling and thrilling way to buy property.

I used to think property auctions were for other people and not for the likes of me... then I went to an auction and there were so many normal people... just like every day Joes... there were lots of people like me!

(Ken, auction property buyer)

Youd never guess, but every day, properties are being sold under the hammer. All across the country thousands and thousands of properties are bought and sold at auction. Its a multi-billion pound business. From stately homes to war bunkers, repossessions to roads, everywhere you look properties are being snapped up by savvy investors, developers and people just like you.

Its just a case of knowing where to look.

To the uninitiated, the world of property auctions can seem a different world. A crazy world where any sort of property, anywhere, can be bought and sold. Its true. And that is what makes property auctions so amazing.

You dont have to be crazy to buy at auction, but you do need to be ready to start a new property adventure. You need to be prepared for cut-price bargains. You need to be equipped with a new set of rules. You need to be organised, open-minded and ready for anything; to act fast and think quick. You need to have courage, confidence and some cash and be prepared to enter a whole new world of buying property and making money.