WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BUY AT AUCTION?
WHEN you’ve never bought anything at auction and suddenly you’re in a packed room with a man standing behind the bar with his hammer, nerves kick in.
Bar? Yes, a proper bar in a pub called The Bell in the pretty village of Ramsbury in Wiltshire.
This was a chance for the whole village to check out who might be moving in, and an opportunity for tradesmen to offer their services.
The lot I was interested in comprised a bungalow on a parcel of land by a stream that feeds the River Kennet, with views across a water meadow.
Local agent Alastair Kidson-Trigg explained that ‘the contract is binding at the fall of the hammer’, and we had already agreed with the seller that if successful, I would have three months (rather than the usual three to four weeks) to come up with the money.
I had my upper limit firmly in my head and beads of sweat on the outside of it. Three people were bidding, one of whom, clearly, was a developer. I played it cool, staying out of it at first. Two of the bidders soon dropped out. Then my index finger shot up.
Back and forth we went, myself and the developer. There were gasps from the audience as the price reached certain peaks. Finally I heard Alastair say: ‘The bid is against you, sir.’ And he wasn’t looking at me.
As the hammer went down and my agony ended, the audience applauded. Before long I was being offered a pint by an architect and then another by a surveyor and a third by a man who specialised in demolition.