Advice on selling rental bugalow at auction?

My final rental is now vacant and will be ready to go on the market in a couple of weeks. I do have an estate agent lined up, but I’m wondering whether to try an auction. Its a small detached bungalow in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Could I ask for people’s experience of selling at auction?

I’m aware I would need a legal pack, set a minimum price and obviously pay the auction house fees/commission.

What are the pros and cons?

Many Thanks

Ann

Note from Mark Alexander (Founder Property118):

Hi Ann

You’re absolutely right that a legal pack and reserve price are key steps if you decide to sell at auction, but before committing, it’s worth weighing how your particular property type performs in that environment.

Bungalows, especially detached ones, tend to attract strong interest from private buyers rather than investors. That can often make a traditional estate-agency sale the better route, because owner-occupiers are more likely to stretch on price and less influenced by yield or renovation margins.

Auctions tend to work best for properties that need work, have title or tenancy complications, or where a quick, unconditional sale is more valuable than achieving top price. If your bungalow is in good condition, chain-free and ready to move into, an open-market sale usually gives you a broader audience and a better chance of securing a premium.

That said, modern online auctions have improved considerably. They can still deliver speed and certainty if you set the reserve sensibly, and the marketing exposure is strong. The key is to compare both methods side by side:

• Estate-agency route: wider buyer pool, potential for higher price, but longer timescale and risk of fall-throughs.
• Auction route: fixed timescale, immediate exchange, but a smaller buyer pool and the reserve price limits upside.

If you’d like, you can post a few more details in the comments section of the article, such as condition, guide price and whether it’s freehold or leasehold and I’m sure other readers will share first-hand auction experiences in similar areas.

From what you’ve described, a small detached bungalow in Runcorn could well attract strong private-buyer interest, so we would be inclined to test the open market first unless speed of sale is your priority.