Welcome to our First Auction of 2022

A very warm welcome to our 2022 series of auctions and from myself and my team, a slightly belated Happy New Year to you all.  Let’s hope it is an easier year than 2021 and 2020 with the Covid pandemic and associated restrictions to normal life dissipating.

Despite all the challenges last year, we continued to drive forward our auction service to buyers and sellers alike and were delighted to be able to return to the rostrum with a real auction sale and venue in September.  Although no other major auctioneer has followed our lead, we know this has been the right thing to do with many buyers returning from an absence of buying at auction.  Clients new and old have re-engaged due to this move as they want a skilled and experienced auctioneer handling their sales on the day rather than like others, allowing a computer algorithm to conduct the sale rather than an actual auctioneer.

This re-engagement is demonstrated through our results where virtually every measure of our results and activity shows a marked increase on recent previous years. 

In 2021 we offered over 2,260 lots and the capital value of all the lots sold through our auction exceeded £260 Million, no other single auctioneer offered this many lots in 2021.

So as we look forward through this year first of all, we will continue to hold venue based sales provided there is no change in restrictions that would prevent this. Whilst this is an expensive thing for us to do (probably the main reason why no other major auctioneer has yet returned to their venues) we know we can host our sales in a Covid secure environment and more importantly, it is what you, our customers tell us you want. 

For those who prefer not to attend, you can still bid online, bid by phone or send us your proxy bid. We have worked very closely with our venue and technical support teams to ensure that no matter how you decide to engage with bidding, all bidders are treated in exactly the same way and have an equal opportunity to engage with the bidding. 

Of course we do however know that those who attend the auction are best placed to experience the sale for themselves, have my team at the venue to assist with any last minute enquiries and generally, have a better experience of the sale than simply bidding from home or workplace.

This year I will have been an auctioneer with Barnard Marcus for over 33 years and in that time, have seen many changes both in the market and specifically legislation and requirements for us to adhere to as auctioneers.  We adjust and deliver solutions to all of this and whilst I appreciate all the ID requirements we have in place for bidders can be tiresome, it is a legal requirement and so, the earlier you register to bid and deal with this process the better. 

The one thing that has remained constant however is buyers who engage and bid at the auction who have not properly carried out their due diligence. It is imperative that if you are bidding that you have properly carried out all you homework and where appropriate sought proper professional advice.  You are bidding to buy regardless of how you bid, if the auctioneers gavel falls on your bid, you have entered a legally binding contract to purchase that lot.  Please make sure you follow all our buyers’ guides available on the website and ask the questions before you bid, this way, there will be no surprises and your auction experience will be a great one. 

So, our first sale of the year on 2nd February comprises this 250 or so lot sale steeped full of a complete range of property in almost every part of the UK and indeed, a property in Israel.  If you are reading this introduction in a printed catalogue please also look at our web site where there will be more photos and plans, legal packs and that is where you need to go to register to bid.  We do accept post catalogue print lots so it may be that there is a lot listed on our website that has missed print, it could be the ideal lot for you.

As always, my teams both here and at our regional centres are keen to help with your enquiries in the run up to the auction.  If you see a lot you want to buy before the auction some of our sellers will consider pre-auction bids so why not give it a go! 

I really hope you will attend the auction if you want to bid, we look forward to welcoming you to The Grand Connaught Rooms on Wednesday 2nd February and wish you the very best of luck with your bidding.