A most unusual auction

I had a look at Queanbeyan. There seems to be an older part in addition to some newer areas. Some of it looks really ordinary looking, or is Canberra turning me into a snob. Very close by were some spectacular spots in Dodsworth and Ridgeway. Million dollar properties some of them, no doubt. I went to some open inspections in Jerrabomberra. What a name for a suburb. Large houses with prices to match. Some of them nearly take your breath away in the way they have been built and fitted out. I called in at an auction that happened to be about to start. I was first there, and had a chat to one of the agents.

On the way through the door I mentioned that I’d be a spectator only, and asked the price that the property was expected to bring. “Mid three hundreds,” she said. It was a very nice place, enhanced by the modern furnishings, if not a bit cramped inside, and the building almost filling the block completely. Anyway, while waiting for the auction to start, I began chatting with a couple of people outside, and mentioned the morsel of information I got from the agent. I was unaware at the time that this particular couple would buy the property. It was one of the most unusual auctions I’ve ever witnessed.

The auction began in the usual way with the auctioneer running through various attributes of the property and as far as I could tell seemed just another ordinary property auction. It’s the events which followed that surprised me. There were about three other agents on site in addition to the auctioneer, and they, along with a small group of perhaps ten or so spectators gathered on the small patch of lawn to the side of the house. There was only one interested buyer, as it turned out. Or rather, there was only one individual who was vocal at the auction. No one else showed any interest in bidding.

The bidding commenced at $300,000 with this chap calling out his bid. There were no subsequent raises in the auction despite the auctioneer’s usual banter of talking up the property. It appeared that this person had turned up to the auction and had no opposition. To me this is an ideal situation: it keeps the price low. And if the property gets passed in at the end of the auction, the highest bidder generally has first rights on negotiating a price, in private. Which also, is an ideal situation for a buyer. It has been known for properties to fail to sell at auction and subsequently sell at a lower price. The reverse also occurs.

So, here we are all gathered at this auction and there is only one bid, and that bid is for $300,000. One of the sales team approaches the bidder and speaks to him. I’m a little too far away from them and I don’t hear everything that was said, but I did manage to catch a comment by the sales person along the lines of, “…so you will be willing to raise your offer by $30,000.” This whole process took about three maybe four minutes; which is a lot of time to be standing around in relative silence. I thought this was an auction and not some badger-the-punter session.

My first reaction was wondering what this sales person was doing speaking to this guy. I’d feel inclined to tell them to get lost. My second thought was over the word “offer.” This guy didn’t make an offer on the house; he made a bid at an auction. Perhaps I’m splitting hairs, but it did seem mighty strange.

Anyway, this sales guy goes back to the auctioneer and whispers in his ear, to which the auctioneer immediately addresses those assembled, but to the bidder in particular. The auctioneer immediately asks to hear the new amount as a bid. And sure enough, like the little sheep he was, he responded with, “$330,000.”

This guy had just bid against himself. This was stupid, was my first reaction. This was outrageous of the agents to push this guy like this. Of course, the property may in fact have been worth a whole heap more than this amount. So, perhaps bidding against himself was no great loss. On the other hand he has just committed himself to another thirty thousand that perhaps he may not have had to put up. This guy doesn’t know the sellers situation. Perhaps the seller was in urgent need to sell; perhaps the property had to be sold on that day to get out of some financial trouble. We don’t know that possibly the seller had instructed the auctioneer to sell it any price, just get rid of it.

Having just bid against himself, the same salesperson approached the bidder again. Another prolonged discussion took place. Further delays as sales folk disappears inside the house. Possibly the owner was inside and they were seeking instructions from the owner. They come out for more discussions with the bidder. They troop back inside the house again. This would be funny had everything been captured on video and sped up like an old Keystone Cops silent movie.

Then finally they emerge and the figure $363,000 is announced by the auctioneer. The bidder acknowledges it. Then as quick as a flash, as though allowing no time to retract the bid, a mighty fast, “first call,” and without pause for a breath, “second call,” and immediately, “third call, sold,” exploded from the auctioneer’s mouth. It was all over

Unusual practice at best, more like a con job to me.

Getting around

There was a Nissan EXA advertised for $150 in the newspaper. The turbocharger in my EXA needs to be replaced. And for that price I might be able to remove the turbo and throw the rest of the car away. Well, that was my idea in checking it out. There must have been a lot of interest as it had been sold by the time I got there. Anyway, it didn’t have a turbo. The turbo had been removed, extractors fitted, and the air inlet pipe that would normally have gone to the turbo went straight to the inlet manifold. Now that’s an interesting idea I could use if my turbo gets much worse. The car is beginning to put out some smoke when I decelerate, to say nothing of the noise that comes from the engine when the turbo kicks in under hard acceleration. It sounds terrible and I try to avoid it. Consequently, when I accelerate from traffic lights I do so gingerly. I doubt if too many other road users appreciate my sluggish driving habits.

It was a nice day so I spent the time driving around the Canberra suburbs, ending up on Mt Ainslie, and what a wonderful view can be had from there. I’m pleased to be able to get around Canberra okay. Though, you can’t go to anywhere unfamiliar without a street directory. In fact, I saw a couple of people walking in a quiet suburban street one evening after work, and one of them was carrying a street directory in their hand. There’s hardly a straight street in Canberra, and with so many no through roads, crescents, and curved roads it’s so easy to loose your way or sense of direction.

My landlady advised me she is having the house open for inspection on Sunday. I’ll have to clean my part of the house beforehand. She's selling her house privately; no agents for her. They do take hefty commissions. So, I'll be interested to see how things go. It's an idea I have been toying with. She has a very plain ‘for sale’ sign in the middle of the front garden, and when she has an 'open house' places a sign at the end of the street directing any passers by toward the house, and another sign on the footpath out the front. And then just waits for punters.

I found the car wrecking yards. They seem to congregate in the nearby NSW town of Queanbeyan. Canberra must be too good for this type of business. Anyway, none of them had any turbos available that were suitable for my car. I’ll keep my eyes open.

There is a sharp contrast between Queanbeyan and Canberra. It doesn’t take long to get used to Canberra’s clean and tidy appearance with few electricity power lines on the streets, no corner shops, and curved suburban streets that generally don’t go anywhere. Most other places, including Queanbeyan, are built in a rectangular street pattern, where there is often a corner shop, with ribbon shopping strips on the main roads as you get closer to town. On the other hand, Canberra tends to have clusters of shops grouped into tiny shopping precincts. I went into town for the first time; they mostly call it Civic. The centre of Canberra is very unlike most other CBDs. The majority of the shops seem to be built into a mall, though I must say, a very large mall. But when I say mall, I don’t mean like Rundle Mall or the Bourke Street Mall. Think about your local Westfield shopping centre mall, and then think much, much bigger. It took me ages to find a petrol station in Canberra. You’ll seldom see any on a main road, as in most other cities. Usually they are tucked away in the suburbs out of sight. It must be something to do with having a clean tidy image.

One of the most delightful things about getting around Canberra is the system of main roads. They generally all have 80km/hr speed limits, which is very different from other cities. Travelling from one suburb to the next is best done by getting to your nearest main road, zipping up to 80, and the road signing is good here, and then getting off at some side street near your destination. I used to drive a taxi and you could often cut through just about any suburban side street and find yourself bypassing almost as many traffic lights as you wished, but you can’t do this in Canberra because so many suburban streets are no through roads or loops that take you back to the same road you just left. Of course, the advantage of that is that most streets in Canberra are quiet and serene.