You can buy property at auction or through a private sale. It might seem like stating the obvious, but it’s really important that you’re sure about your ability to fund a purchase before making a bid, an offer or signing a contract.
Buying a property begins with making an offer (which you may want to make subject to finance, unless you have the cash of course).
You should get pre-approval for a loan, especially if you are thinking of bidding at auction, because if you’re the successful bidder, there’s no backing out. In a private sale, you’ve got a bit of time to change your mind – there is what’s called a cooling-off period. We’ll get to that in the Knowledge Centre too, because it may not be as straight-forward as you think.
If you have pre-approval, it’ll make finding the right property for your budget a lot easier, and save a bit of heartache if you can’t borrow as much as you’d hoped. Note though, that pre-approval isn’t a lock. Financiers (e.g. the bank) generally require a valuation of the property you’re seeking to buy – and they will often arrange that – before they will grant formal finance approval.