Read Time: 4 minutes
Auctions look fast and exciting, until a first-home buyer realises every bid comes with prepaid costs.
My biggest learning running HouseMe Legal for 3.5 years: First-home buyers don't mind paying fees, if they have a strong chance of winning the property.
However, auctions make this complicated.
“We spent nearly $2,500 on reports and never raised our hand to bid."
I used to hear this a lot.
But, why?
Legal review, LIM report, building report, and valuation - You have to pay for all of them up-front and often you have to walk away empty-handed.
For a tight first-home budget that hurts.
Financial: Four sets of fees can reduce a first home buyer’s savings before mortgage repayments even start.
Emotional: One failed auction often knocks buyer confidence for months, which stalls pre-approval renewals and slows your settlement pipeline.
Auctions are like playing poker.
Once you have made your bet, you must buy the property.
Without time to stage each check in order, buyers pay for everything at once, then watch the house go to someone else.
Our 12-month data tracking shows a 34.69% success rate for first home buyer clients (17 wins out of 49 auctions).
Odds improve when the prep is paced correctly.
Week / Step: -3 to -2
What happens: Buyer flags interest to us. Buyer books a free 15-minute call and sends us the agreement, title, and LIM.
Cost-control move: Stack: Free high-level document review. If documents scream “walk away,” there's no charge from us.
Week / Step: -2 to -1
What happens: Buyer orders building inspection.
Cost-control move: Check: If the report is ugly, they lose just one fee, not four.
Week / Step: -1
What happens: We provide a full written report, lines up finance, buyer orders valuation (if needed). At this point, a formal file is opened for the buyers.
Cost-control move: Cap: Fixed legal cap of $600 + GST + disbursements if the buyer withdraws now.
Week / Step: Auction week
What happens: Final green light, confirm deposit pathway.
Cost-control move: All major spend locked onlyafter earlier hurdles cleared.If the buyer fails at auction,then we send the capped fee.If successful, the full fixed feeis paid on the settlement day.
Video: Three Ps: Preparation, Progress and Peak
Written Summary: HouseMe Legal - Strategy Framework
Our auction checklist walks buyers through an in-depth step-by-step process, with tick boxes and links to take them to the right place. Click here to access.
