Selling a Property at Auction

Before any marketing or listing activities can commence, a legally binding Exclusive Sales Authority (in Victoria) or Exclusive Agency Agreement (in NSW) must be fully executed by all property owners. This agreement legally appoints Barry Plant to act on your behalf, details agreed commission and marketing expenses, sets the exclusive selling timeframe, and confirms the initial estimated selling price.

To fulfill federal anti-money laundering regulations and state conveyancing requirements, all legal owners must complete a mandatory Identity Verification (VOI) check prior to listing. This secure digital process verifies primary identification documents (such as a passport or driver's licence) to confirm legal ownership, protect against property fraud, and satisfy AUSTRAC requirements.

Learn more in our AML Compliance Guide.

A property cannot be offered for sale or auctioned without a complete legal disclosure document prepared by your conveyancer or solicitor (a Section 32 in Victoria or Contract for Sale in NSW). This document must be made available to prospective buyers prior to the auction and contains critical legal information including title boundaries, planning certificates, rates, encumbrances, and Owners Corporation disclosures.

Replacing the traditional Statement of Information in Victoria, the Property Price Statement (PPS) is a mandatory statutory document that must be displayed alongside all active property advertising. It provides prospective buyers with transparent pricing guidance, full property details (including internal floor area and land size), and comparable market sales evidence. Following an unconditional sale, the final sold price is updated on the PPS within 7 days and retained online for 18 months.

All advertised price guides must strictly reflect realistic market expectations and cannot be lower than the agent’s estimated price, the seller's asking price, or any written offer rejected during the campaign. If an offer is rejected, the advertised price guide on the Property Price Statement (PPS) must be updated immediately. Price ranges must not span more than 10%, and open-ended terms (such as "$800,000+" or "offers over") are legally prohibited

Your reserve price is the legally binding single dollar figure below which your property cannot be sold without your express written consent on auction day. Under Victorian legislation, this single dollar figure must be formally confirmed in writing and published publicly on the Property Price Statement (PPS) at least 7 full days prior to the auction date.

For NSW properties, reserve instructions are provided confidentially in writing to the auctioneer prior to the sale without the 7-day publication requirement.

Victorian and NSW auction laws strictly regulate how public sales are conducted. The statutory Auction Rules, Bidders' Information Sheets, and complete Contracts of Sale must be displayed prominently at the property at least 30 minutes prior to the auction commencing. These rules prohibit dummy bidding, dictate how vendor bids can be exercised by the auctioneer, and outline dispute resolution procedures.

Buying property at an auction creates an immediate, legally binding unconditional contract with no cooling-off period. Upon the fall of the hammer, the successful bidder is legally required to sign the Contract of Sale immediately and pay the agreed deposit (typically 10%). Deposits are securely held in trust (or transferred electronically via statutory authority platforms) until final settlement.

Weekends and public holidays do not count. This is crucial for calculating your cooling-off exceptions (e.g., the 3-day rule before and after the auction).

A dummy bid is a fake bid planted to falsely inflate the price or momentum of the auction. It is strictly illegal for family members, friends, or the agent to bid from the crowd to help you out.

The only legal bid made on your behalf is a Vendor Bid, which can exclusively be executed by the licensed auctioneer and must be loudly declared as a "Vendor Bid" before the amount is named.

The moment bidding hits or exceeds your reserve price. The auctioneer will announce this publicly, meaning the property must be sold to the highest bidder that day.

If the highest bid fails to hit your reserve price, the property is "passed in." The highest bidder then wins the exclusive right to sit down and negotiate with you first.

A legally mandated document you must provide to buyers before they can bid. It covers critical legal details like zoning, covenants, land titles, and rates.

An auction contract has zero safety nets for the buyer. They cannot pull out if their finance falls through or if a building report comes back poor.

Underquoting occurs when a real estate agent advertises or quotes a property at a price that is lower than the seller’s asking price, lower than a rejected written offer, or lower than the agent’s own realistic estimated selling price.

It misleads prospective buyers into spending time and money (e.g., on building inspections, legal contract reviews, and valuation fees) on properties they ultimately cannot afford. Underquoting is illegal across both Victoria and New South Wales under state property acts as well as the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Can a property be sold before the auction date? Yes, it can. If a buyer makes an enticing pre-auction offer, you can choose to sell early. However, to protect yourself, ensure your agent communicates this to other interested parties to spark a mini-competition. Keep in mind: if you sign a contract 3 clear business days or more before the auction, the buyer will retain their standard 3-day cooling-off period. If it's within that 3-day window, the cooling-off period is waived.

For Victorian Properties: Under Victorian legislation, your single-figure reserve price must be formalised in writing and published on the Property Price Statement (PPS) at least 7 full days before the auction. To ensure a smooth campaign and allow a final market-testing window, your Barry Plant agent liaise with you prior to this deadline to review buyer feedback and set your figure. (Note: If you choose to formally lower or change your published reserve before auction day, the mandatory 7-day publication clock restarts).

For New South Wales Properties: You do not need to set your reserve price weeks in advance. In NSW, sellers formalise their reserve price in writing with their agent and auctioneer on the morning of the auction or the day prior, based on the final campaign feedback.

In Victoria a vendor bid is a strategic bid made by the auctioneer on your behalf to help stimulate bidding if the crowd is quiet or hasn't reached your baseline. In Victoria, there is no strict legal limit on the number of vendor bids an auctioneer can make, but they can only be made by the auctioneer and the auctioneer must clearly announce them as a "vendor bid" before taking them.

In New South Wales the auctioneer may make only ONE vendor bid per auction for residential property or rural land. The single vendor bid must be clearly identified by the auctioneer announcing "vendor bid" or stating it is on behalf of the seller at the moment it is submitted.

In both Victoria & New South Wales dummy bidding (anyone else bidding on your behalf) is strictly illegal and carries heavy fines.

If the highest bid falls short of your reserve, the property will be "passed in". Under Victorian law, the highest bidder at the time the property is passed in gains the exclusive first right to negotiate a price with you. If you cannot come to an agreement, your agent can then open up negotiations with other interested bidders or transition the property into a private treaty sale.

An auction sale in Victoria is entirely unconditional. The successful bidder must immediately sign the Contract of Sale and pay the deposit (typically 10% unless an alternative amount was explicitly agreed upon before the auction started). They cannot pull out due to standard clauses like "subject to finance" or "subject to a building inspection".

While a 10% deposit is standard practice, it is not a legal requirement. If a buyer approaches your agent before the auction asking to pay a smaller deposit (e.g., 5%) or wishes to use a deposit bond, they must get your written approval before the bidding starts. If they win without prior arrangement and cannot pay, they are technically in breach of contract.

No. In Victoria, buying a residential property at a publicly advertised auction is completely unconditional. The successful bidder has zero cooling-off rights, meaning they cannot legally change their mind or back out of the contract without severe financial and legal penalties.

Sellers should be aware that this rule extends far beyond just the few minutes the auctioneer is standing on the front lawn. Under the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), the cooling-off period is completely waived for any contract signed within 3 clear business days before or 3 clear business days after a scheduled public auction.

This protection applies to you even if:

• A buyer makes a compelling offer a few days early to stop the auction from going ahead.
• The property is "passed in" on the day, and you negotiate a private sale with the highest bidder immediately afterward.
• The auction is officially cancelled, but the contract is still signed within that 3-day window.

What this means for you: If a contract is signed within this designated auction window, the sale is immediate and locked in. The buyer must pay their deposit on the spot, and the deal cannot be made subject to last-minute building inspections or finance approvals.