I attended an auction in a very nice area of Sydney last...

I attended an auction in a very nice area of Sydney last Saturday.

The property was passed in and yet, did not appear on the Domain results for that weekend or any subsequent amendment.

Initially the property was advertised with a guide of over $1,050,000 for a few weeks and then the advert was revised down to a guide of over $950,000. This showed that the cat was out of the bag and that the subsequent revision was just a marketing ploy to get mug interest.

At the auction it was clear that the owners family and tyre kickers (me included) made up most of the'only 10-12 people there.

The selling agent was standing near the only bidder.

The bidder kicked off at $980,000 and then the auctioneer kept on trying to get more bids from him - it was sad.

The auctioneer then kicked in with a vendor bid of $1,100,000 - makes the guide price look like the sham it was - disgraceful.

The bidder then added $1,000 and was encouraged to keep bidding against himself. The property was passed in and the bidder was congratulated and was told he had earned the right to negotiate with the owner directly.

Needless to say, the property is now on the market for private treaty.

If I was the owner of this TOWNHOUSE type property I would have snapped up the offer and run away with a smile on my face - seriously, $950K should have done the deal well and truly.

I walked away viewing the whole scene as being problematic at the very least. I question the whole process and each of the participants.

Bottom line for me is that there is one less agent for me to choose from if I ever sell.

regards