Auctions

One day we’ll probably “down size”.    We don’t have any immediate intentions along these lines, although during our renovations, the thought certainly crossed our minds at times!   I still regularly attend any interesting auctions in the area (if I’m around) so I keep this possibility in mind.

There were two recent auctions of properties with “potential”.   I attended both.  The first certainly “ticked the boxes” in a number of respects, but the price at which it was passed in was higher than I would be comfortable paying – and, at least to my mind, was higher than the market  would justify (although it is still listed as being for private sale at an even higher price).    I acknowledge that judging the market at present is not easy.  Just the same, the only bid, a vendor bid, was very significantly over the Council’s CIV value, and around here, the CIV values have been a fairly good guide.   Not so many months back, there were a number of sales at well below CIV, and even since then,  the CIV values haven’t been been exceeded by very much at the auctions I’ve attended.   True, CIV values are just one aspect, and the property concerned has some desirable features, but the the price issue has been enough to extinguish the small spark of enthusiasm I might otherwise have had.

The other property was older, but solid.  It, too, was passed in, and it, too, is still listed as being for private sale (but the price is only available on application).  However, S has ruled this place out of consideration for a couple of reasons that are no doubt valid – although had our appetite for a move been greater, I could have worked up a little enthusiasm for this one (and we may have been able to work through the issues).

But the upside of all this is that our commitment to remain in situ has been reinforced.    We can see the light at the end of the tunnel with our current work:  the plasterers have finished the remaining rooms, the painter is booked in, and then all that will remain will be to lay the carpet in the last two rooms.