Any vendor can sit in an antique (goods and chattels) auction...

Any vendor can sit in an antique (goods and chattels) auction and bid on their own stuff. It happens everywhere in this country and around the world. I was a goods and chattels auctioneer and valuer for 15 years.
Happens all the time. If they win the bid they own it and have to pay buyers premium and vendors comission to the auctioneer.

My point is that I read so much rubbish on the property forum and I am disappointed. It could be so good.

As much as many people here hate it, there is money to be made out of property by renovating or ramping up yields somehow, not just by waiting for the market to rise. You can leverage into property to a much higher gearing than shares and it can be an exciting and risky play, just like so many other threads on HC.

Shame the property forum never moves on from the same old venemous discussions about
a) are prices currently too high and
b) will they rise or fall from here.