In an auction all users can see the bids have been made for a property.
The people who have made the bids remains confidential still, only the bid amount can be seen.
Most sales in the UK utilise a form of private offer.
The amount offered is kept confidential (private) between the buyer and the seller.
When making an offer on The Move Market, it is delivered directly to the seller, not even the estate agent knows the price you have offered.
There are three different types of auction available on The Move Market.
The seller can chose which type of auction they want to run.
The three auction types are:
Yes, it is easy to cancel a bid.
We have a policy around bid cancellations to avoid auctions being purposefully disrupted by insincere bidders.
A blind auction is a type of private auction.
In a blind auction all bids are confidential between the buyer and the seller - this is the key difference between a public auction and a private auction.
The seller can reject bids any bids that don't meet their expectations immediately.
The seller can also accept a bid before the auction ends if they want to.
At the end of the auction, the seller is allowed up to three days to choose the winning bid.
After this time, if the seller hasn't accepted a winning bid, the auction closes and all bids are expired with the property not having sold.
Most properties in the UK are sold in a blind auction style through estate agents, although sometimes confidential information leaks out giving some buyers an unfair advantage at a cost to the seller.
On The Move Market, any bids you submit in blind auctions are delivered directly to the seller and remain confidential.
Bids can be cancelled by the buyer.
A standard auction is a type of public auction.
In a standard auction all bids are public - this means other buyers can see what you have bid for a property.
However, your identity is anonymized, to all other users at this point.
Each new bid has to be higher than the last bid received - so the price of the property always goes up.
All buyers can submit bids up until the end of the auction.
A seller can set a reserve on a standard auction and the property only sells if the highest bid is greater than the reserve price.
Only upon winning an auction are your contact details revealed to the seller so that they can contact you to complete the sale process.
Bids can be cancelled by the buyer.
An extended auction is a type of public auction.
There is only one difference between the extended auction and the standard auction.
In an extended auction, the auction end time increases if any buyer submits a bid close to the auction end.
The reason the auction extends is to give all other buyers a chance to submit a new bid.
In this type of auction there is no point in waiting to the last moment to bid as the auction simply extends.
Bids can be cancelled by the buyer.
The Move Market's platform is designed to enhance the buying process, for both buyers and sellers.
It does this by ensuring private bids remain private; and only if the seller is running a public auction are bids seen by other people.
In a public property auction on The Move Market all buyers will be kept fully informed about the latest price. This lowers the risk of you missing out on the property because you weren't told a higher offer had been received.
Estate agents are great at getting a property on the market, advertising the property and showing potential buyers around.
However, they aren't robots and can't be expected to be available 24/7 or not to forget to call someone back.
The Move Market's platform ensures buyers bids are delivered directly to the seller, and only if the seller wants other buyers to know the highest price, is it revealed.
Also, if the seller needs to switch estate agent for any reason and you've bid through The Move Market, the seller will still be able to keep you informed of the final bid deadline.
Inform the estate agent that took you around the property that you have submitted a bid on The Move Market and let them know the seller needs to claim ownership of their property so they don't miss out on bids.
Yes, we recommend you obtain a survey on the property before you exchange contracts.
We recommend instructing a surveyor after you have won the auction.
Should the survey highlight previously unknown issues with the property, you can still pull out of the sale or renegotiate the price - all bids on The Move Market are non-binding.
The property sale isn't binding until the exchange of contracts has happened. Until this point you can renegotiate on price to take account of the previously unknown issues or pull out of the sale.
Contact the seller - after winning the auction you'll be able to see the seller's contact details by logging in and going to the auction page.
They will also be able to view your contact details at this stage.
You need to arrange a time to carry out your survey and then instruct your solicitor and/or the estate agent to proceed with the sale, just like usual.
No, after winning the auction the property is sold, subject to contract, just like if you'd put an offer in to an estate agent that had been accepted.
In a public auction you simply have to submit the highest bid before the auction ends and for your bid to be greater than any reserve that the seller has set.
In a blind auciton, the seller will select the winning bid. It may or may not be the highest bid. The seller may also take account of any bid conditions you have supplied with your bid. Some sellers will give priority to buyers who can move quickly.
Please note: all bids on The Move Market are non-binding bids.
Estate agents work on behalf of the seller. If you tell anyone but the seller your price, there is more of a chance that another buyer will find out what you have bid.
If another buyer knows what you have bid, they can easily just increase the price slightly above your bid and then they will win the auction.
We think it is fairer to all buyers if either the bids are strictly confidential or completely public. This way, all buyers have the same knowledge and the same chance of winning the auction.
If the seller needs to change estate agents for any reason, you'll still be kept up to date on any property and auction updates.
If the seller is holding a public auction, you'll be kept informed about the highest bid received so far, so you don't miss out due to a lack of communication from the estate agent.
No, in England and Wales, a property isn't deemed as sold until the exchange of contracts. Only when the contracts are formally exchanged by your solicitor with the seller's solicitor will the deal become legally binding. See the Money Advice Service's article - what you need to know about contract exchange and completion for a more in-depth explanation of the property buying process and exchange of contracts.
Please note - we do not offer legal advice or guidance, you need to speak to a solicitor to get help on any legal questions you may have around this.
You agree an exchange date at a time that suits both you and the seller. The Move Market doesn't enforce any set date for exchange of contracts - it is one way we are different from a traditional property auctioneers.
The advantage of not having a same day 'Exchange of Contracts' means more buyers can potentially purchase the property. This is because to exchange contracts on the same day typically requires a substantial deposit to be paid at which point the sale is binding.
We don't have same day exchange of contracts as this then allows the buyer to easily arrange a survey after agreeing the price.
No, you get your solicitor to agree a completion date that suits you and the seller.
Typically your solicitor will negotiate the completion date with the seller's solicitor and it will be set when you exchange contracts.
The only time we will show your personal contact details on the website is when you win an auction - at this point the seller will be shown your contact details so they can contact you to complete the sales process.
Yes, our entire website runs over a secure connection (SSL) just like banks use.
You can check in your web browser to make sure you are on a secured connection for any website by looking for the padlock symbol - it is often found next to the website URL.
We use enterprise grade data centers that have high levels of physical security, including security guards and intrusion detection systems.
We carry out checks on our users identity and address to ensure they are real.
This is to lower the risk of fake/insincere bids that can cost both buyers and sellers a lot of money through failed property sales.
We carry out checks on property ownership before allowing a seller to take control of a property auction.
Yes, we take various measures to look after your data.
We encrypt(scramble) the document uploads and store them in a secured data center. Even if the hardware was stolen, without the key to unencrypt the documents, the data would remain scrambled.
Only employees of The Move Market can see your document uploads to verify your details - they are never shown to any other user of The Move Market.
For more details please see our privacy policy and user agreement.