Going to a house auction

is not an exciting experience.

Middle Cat and I went to the auction of a "unit" we were interested in yesterday. We had explored it thoroughly the week before. We had asked a lot of questions. 

Middle Cat knows a great deal more about these things than I do. Her partner's family has had to deal with these things over the years. They bought their own home through auction some years ago. They have an investment property (Middle Cat's "superannuation") which they also bought the same way. 

I am hunting for somewhere smaller to live of course and this is what all this was about. I have prowled through some totally unsuitable places for an ageing cat. No, I won't buy a place on an upper floor without a lift. I don't want steps in odd places. I do want a stove in the kitchen. I need a little bit of space please - for mobility reasons as much as anything else.

The place we looked at would have been ideal in many respects and I could have lived with the drawbacks. I am genuinely trying not to be unrealistic in my expectations. 

The "price range" was well within my target but Middle Cat and I had reservations. It was going to go for more than that. Still, we went and added ourselves to the list of those who would be bidding. We had a firm limit. 

There were not as many bidders as we expected. Perhaps the weather (it was raining) had put some people off? I don't know. 

Eventually the auction started. Nobody seemed to want to put in a reasonable starting bid. Someone did offer something so low that the auctioneer, not unreasonably, immediately started at a much higher price. Middle Cat put in a bid at lower than we could afford but still reasonable. The auctioneer actually looked relieved that someone was starting. Someone added another very slowly. Then Middle Cat went to our limit knowing we would not get it. The auctioneer knew that too. He went on. He went away and phoned the vendor. No, the bid was not acceptable.

In the end it was "passed in". We stopped to talk to the other serious bidders. They were disappointed of course, as were we. The auctioneer also seemed to believe the vendor was being unrealistic. But the young couple we spoke to told us they had been to another auction the day before. 

I knew the property they were talking about. (It was not accessible for me. You would need a car for a number of reasons.) The property had been advertised at a very low $385,000. They young couple had been keen for that reason even though there were some drawbacks - transport issues being one of them. It went for $780,000. 

Apparently there was a battle between two buyers keen to get it. That's all very well but I imagine the successful bidder must now be wondering why they were foolish enough to pay around $300,000 more than Middle Cat and the real estate agent we spoke to thought the place would fetch.

Perhaps I really am fortunate not to have to worry about such things. I have a limit. I cannot go beyond that because I am too old a cat to get a loan and have no way of paying one off.