During 2021 I have attempted to purchase from this auction site. The first property was a tenanted upper house, which our lawyer advised us not to proceed with as the contract with the auction house might not include tying in a new tenancy agreement with the sitting tenant. We found another property, an executor sale, ironically in a place I lived as a child. The property was a one bedroom ground floor flat with a starting bid of £8,000. FPA provided information on houses which had sold locally but most of these were 2 bedroom not one bedroom and they failed to list the most recent sale and most direct comparison. This was number 74 which sold in March 2021 for £30,000, the same value placed on this property. The Home Report gave a value of £30,000 but commented that there was damp work to be done and made an allowance of £3,000 for this i.e a valuation of £30,000 if the damp work cost £3,000 and was done. The Home Report by DM Hall dated 2nd July 2021 was very poor. It had major errors in it, i.e. stating that the house had gas central heating when it did not. There was a Category 3 rating on dampness rot and infestation and 13 category 2 ratings. The property required a new kitchen, bathroom, potentially rewiring, plus decorating throughout. There was also a major crack in the roughcast on the kitchen external wall and some of the glazing was single pane only. The property essentially required to be gutted, yet they valued it at exactly the same price as one which was in the same block and had a modern kitchen and bathroom and was fully modernised and in walk in condition. How could this be accurate? We registered for the auction and despite doing so in good time and constantly chasing FPA on the day we were unable to bid as our application was still pending. The Legal Pack was also very late in being available, we applied for it using their on line system and it was sent overnight being received on the morning of the auction. We also contacted them direct requesting the legal pack and were sent a copy of it late on the afternoon the day before the auction. We did go and view the property from the outside as no viewings were allowed by FPA. There was extensive damp staining on the front of the house, caused by the downpipe, the front door was in poor condition, the roughcast at the back was very poor and all in all it was even worse than the Home Report suggested. The Home Report commented that that were evidence of previous damp work being carried out and that any warranties should be provided with the Title Deeds. We contacted the vendors to ask if there were any damp warranties on the property as the Home Report advised checking this out. A damp report was commissioned on 14th July and advised that the total cost of repairs were £11,500 plus vat, not the maximum of £3,000 estimated by the surveyor. The Home Report was not amended to reflect this though there was time to do so. The Legal Pack when it was finally issued did NOT include the damp report. This was reported to both FPA and the lawyers handling the sale before the auction took place. Neither FPA or the lawyers ensured that this report was available before the auction began. The fees charged by FPA were £4,000 plus vat a total of £4,800 on a property valued at £30,000 (assuming a damp repair not exceeding £3K) with a starting bid of £8,000. This appears excessive. Bidding starting on the property on 30th July and was brisk, with it finally being knocked down at £32,000 with fees of £4,800 and damp repairs of £13,800, a gas connection charge of £806 plus the rest of the remedial work. It is hard to believe that the property would have sold for this had the information on the damp repairs been known by potential bidders. The information provided by FPA was incomplete, inaccurate, and at best misleading i.e. comparing previous sales mainly with 2 bedroom properties not one bedroom properties. We can only assume that the buyer was seduced by the prospect of it being worth £63.000 which was one of the comparisons quoted for a 2 bedroom property sold at the height of the market in 2008. A 10% deposit and fees are paid at the completion of the auction and are not refundable as far as we are aware under any circumstance. It will be interesting to see if this property is re-listed in future. While it is true that it is the duty of the buyer to beware and check, but this particular sale was full of misleading or downright incorrect information and the property should have been withdrawn from sale and a more accurate Home Report and Legal Pack provide. We did all we could to ensure that the correct information was provided but neither FPA, DM Hall or the lawyers took appropriate or timely action.

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