Blogs of author

Over 350 people attended Symonds & Sampson's latest property auction held at The Digby Hall, Sherborne, at the end of last month. The auction had 26 lots catalogued and ended with a 96% success rate.

Auctioneer Mark Lewis said that this was the highest percentage success rate, from the main auctioneers, in the UK for the whole of May and raised just under £5million.

The properties on offer were in Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire and attracted interest not only from the region but buyers also flew in from Spain and France.

Mr Lewis said: "We were showcasing the auction at The Move to the Country

A five bedroom bungalow only accessible by boat and a London flat which sold for double its guide price are just two of the 72 lots which sold in a record sale for Auction House London this month (Thursday 4 June 2015).

Hundreds of people packed the impressive ballroom of The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone Road, London. The venue was moved at the last minute from another room in the building in order to accommodate the high numbers of bidders attending the sale, which had a 90% success rate and which raised just short of £18m (£17,989,550).

Auction House London Managing Director and

A vacant ground floor retail unit in Leeds city centre sold for £208,000 having been offered at a guide price of £140,000.

The Dock Street property was one of several which attracted interest at the latest Eddisons auction in Leeds.

Meanwhile, two modern ground floor retail units in the same area of Leeds, one of which is let as a dry cleaner’s producing annual rent of £5,196, sold for £126,000 from a guide price of £120,000.

Other highlights included Soothill Manor, a former 29 bed care home in Batley, which sold for £340,000 off a guide of £325,000. A vacant one bedroom back to back terrace

Has your property been on the market for ages?  Or are you just needing to sell quickly? Selling your property at auction is cost effective, simple, fast and stress free, so get the ball rolling and contact us today!

What are some of the benefits of selling at auction?

• The possibility of obtaining a higher price and an earlier sale.
• A greater certainty of selling your property - 60-70% on average.
• Predictable time scales so you can plan ahead with confidence.
• A much quicker sale from first marketing to completion of sale of property.

It doesn't matter what type of property you

Barnard Marcus' most recent auction last month saw sales proceeds in excess of £26m from the 175 lots on offer. The total for Barnard Marcus this year already stands at over £95m and for Sequence Auctions overall including their regional rooms in Leeds, Norwich, Derby and Southampton exceeding £120 million.

Many lots under the hammer soared above the guide prices, for example, Lot 37, a freehold detached bungalow with potential, offered on behalf of The London Borough of Sutton with a guide price of £330,000, subsequently sold to a private buyer for £710,000, following a fierce bidding war.

As

Is what I would LOVE to be doing right now, on this glorious sunny day... but where would I get the most value for my money?

Here are the 10 most expensive seaside towns in Britain according to Halifax, followed by the average house price:

1. Salcombe, South West, £672,874

2. Sandbanks, South West, £614,726

3. Aldeburgh, East Anglia, £413,393

4. Lymington, South East, £404,781

5. Dartmouth, South West, £403,767

6. Padstow, South West, £387,109

7. Lyme Regis, South West, £343,604

8. Budleigh Salterton, South West, £342,442

9. Bigbury on Sea, South West, £333,626

10. East Wittering, South East,

Nationwide's most recent survey suggests that UK house price growth is slowing down, with prices in May only 4.6% higher than same time last year.  This is down from 5.2% in April.

It was also reported that prices in May actually increased 0.3% compared with April, with the average property price now £195,166.

Nationwide said cash purchases of houses also reached an all-time high of 38% in the first three months of the year, just above the 2014 average of 36%.

Selling a property by auction is easier than many people think, and the prices that we achieve are usually higher than expected too.

It all starts with an email enquiry or a phone call to us. We will pass on your details to the best performing auction house in your area, at which point you'll be asked about your property, your situation and your requirements.

An Auctioneer or an Auction Valuer will visit and inspect your property, then advise you on the best method of sale. If it is 'Sale by Auction,' you will be given Guide Price recommendations, and our auctioneers will talk you through the

British Land, one of Europe's biggest listed property companies, reported full-year results last week and the key takeaway is this: London property prices are still going crazy. The value of the property owned by British Land went up by 12.1% last year, while the value of its office and residential space jumped by 18.8%. British Land said this was due to "the strength of the London market and our actions." British Land's "Cheesegrater" building in the City — proper name the Leadenhall Building — smashed rental records in London last year, with space going for £90 per square foot. British Land

Remember, if you've decided on the property that you want to bid on, and have everything in place in order to attend the auction, then the final piece of advice, in the run-up to the auction, is to keep an eye on the 'guide price' (this is the price listed in the catalogue).

Guide Prices are provided as an indication of each seller's minimum expectation. They are not necessarily figures which a property will sell for and may change at any time prior to the auction. Virtually every property will be offered subject to a Reserve (a figure below which the Auctioneer cannot sell the property during