26 Seddon St, Ivanhoe VIC 307926 Seddon St, Ivanhoe VIC 3079
This October, nearly 2000 Melbourne properties were put up for auction in a single week (Source: REA Group). Although spring is widely known as a popular time to sell a home, these figures show that, as a means of selling, auctions are as popular as ever.
The question is this: how exactly can you beat the competition and come out on top? In this article, we’ll unpack practical steps to success, auction-day techniques, and a real-world case study showing how buyers have won at auction with our help.
So, if you’re a homebuyer preparing for the big day, we hope these insights give you a clearer sense of control and confidence.
Already familiar with who we are and what we do? Feel free to jump ahead to the sections below! If not, here’s a quick glance at what makes Property Analytics so unique.
Established more than 15 years ago, we’re a team of dedicated real estate analysts and fully qualified buyer’s advocates based in Melbourne. Our approach is data-driven and we constantly analyse market trends across Australia to support Property Investors, Property Developers, Industry Professionals, and First-Time Home Buyers.
Our research uses the latest data from:
Head on over to our about us page to learn more or contact us now for a free discovery call!
As experienced buyer’s advocates in Melbourne, we’ve helped hundreds of homebuyers secure properties at auction, often under budget or in situations where they would have been outmanoeuvred without strategic support. What most people don’t realise is that successful bidding is far more than calling out numbers—it’s timing, psychology, preparation, and reading the room.
This brings us to an obvious but rarely acknowledged truth; auctions are engineered to favour sellers. Of course, that doesn’t mean buyers can’t win; it simply means you need to understand the rules of the game.
Over the years, our buyer’s advocates in Melbourne have seen the same pattern again and again:
1. The vendor holds all the cards.
Nobody knows the seller’s actual expectations. Agents provide price guides, but they’re usually well below the final price. Even the auctioneer might be unsure where the vendor will ultimately draw the line until the last moment.
2. Auctions feed on emotion.
Most of the crowd isn’t bidding, but serious buyers often assume everyone is competition. That pressure pushes people to bid just to “beat the other bloke”, not because it’s financially sound.
3. Buyers get swept up in momentum.
What’s another $1,000? Another $5,000? After 20 minutes of adrenaline, people lose track of their original limit altogether.
4. The auctioneer controls the tempo.
“First call! Second call!” — all theatrics designed to manufacture urgency, even when the vendor hasn’t given the green light.
5. Inexperienced bidders hesitate at the worst moments.
A pause, a phone call, a whisper with a partner — these are all signals that competitors and auctioneers feed off.
The good news?
None of this is insurmountable.
A good buyer’s advocate flips the dynamic so you can bid with clarity and confidence rather than stress and guesswork.
There’s no single approach that works at every auction — every property, crowd, and campaign is different. But over time, there are key principles that consistently help our clients succeed. These form the backbone of our auction strategy.
This one surprises most buyers.
If a property doesn’t hit its reserve and passes in, the highest bidder gets the first crack at negotiating privately with the vendor. But if that bidder fails to agree on a number, the agent will immediately look for the next serious party.
By making our intentions clear before the auction — not in a dramatic or forceful way, just a simple conversation — we put our clients in the agent’s mind as genuine buyers.
This has two major benefits:
Most homebuyers don’t realise they can influence negotiations before the auction even begins. But being proactive opens doors later that would otherwise stay shut.
One of the most powerful ways to avoid emotional overspending is to hold your fire until the property officially reaches the vendor’s reserve price — meaning it will definitely sell under the hammer.
You are absolutely entitled to ask, and ask repeatedly:
“Is it on the market?”
Once you know the answer is yes, every dollar you spend has weight. There’s no guesswork about whether your bid is real or “just helping the vendor”.
This strategy lets us:
It also signals confidence — when you finally enter the bidding, everyone knows you’re serious.
Quick, decisive, and consistent bidding can unsettle even seasoned competitors.
You don’t need gimmicks or “knockout bids”. What matters is rhythm:
We’ve seen auctions jump over $100,000 on tiny little $1,000 bids because buyers became emotionally fixated on “not losing for such a small amount”. When we step in, we reset the tone.
Firm bidding gives the impression — real or perceived — that you’re prepared to go higher. And perception is half the battle at auction.
One of the first things to do at any auction is finding a place where you can clearly see the crowd.
It’s not about looking intimidating or marching around like a security guard. It’s practical:
Small details often reveal who is about to drop out — which helps us time our bids perfectly.
Buyers often underestimate how much information they give away — nervously checking their phone, whispering to a partner, flinching at every bid.
When we bid for clients, the goal is to appear calm and unflustered, regardless of what’s happening internally.
And while the auctioneer is trained to control the mood, understanding their techniques helps us avoid falling into their traps. They’ll repeat the “going once, twice…” routine multiple times, trying to coax out one more bid. Knowing this prevents us from being manipulated by theatrics.
A lot of buyers dread a slow auction, but in reality, it’s one of the best opportunities to buy well.
When bidding stalls:
Sometimes a single well-placed bid at a slow auction gives away more information than twenty bids in a fast one.
The trick is to offer a fair but conservative number — a price at the lower end of the range. The vendor’s counteroffer (or refusal) tells us exactly what we need to know.
From there, it becomes a negotiation game rather than an emotional bidding war.
Every homebuyer should walk into an auction with three numbers:
Most buyers only know their maximum, which isn’t enough.
The three-layer method lets us calculate the best moment to enter and exit the bidding so that we stay in control rather than reactive.
This part is simple but essential:
Auctions are unconditional. There are no “ifs” or “I’ll get back to you next week”. Walking in unprepared is one of the biggest risks a homebuyer can take.
Now let’s look at how these strategies played out in real life.
Greg was a homebuyer who came to us after missing out on multiple auctions on his own. He wasn’t inexperienced per se, but he still had a few disadvantages to overcome.
I approached the selling agent, who I happened to know well, and made our intentions very clear; Greg wanted to buy, but only if the auction progressed on our terms. No theatrics or emotional bidding wars.
This simple conversation planted an important idea in the agent’s mind:
“There is a serious bidder waiting in the wings.”
If the property passed in, it would affect the vendor’s decisions.
The auction opened with a vendor bid of $900,000 — the usual warm-up routine. After some back-and-forth from three bidders, the price crept up to $1.116 million and stalled.
The auctioneer tried to draw me in:
“Andrew, you’re awfully quiet! Surely you’re interested?”
I played the card I was waiting to use:
“Is it on the market yet?”
That question changed the entire energy of the auction.
It signalled that we were ready to bid — but only once the sale was real.
The agent ducked inside, spoke to the vendor, and returned to announce that the property was officially on the market at $1.116 million.
Then the game began.
As soon as the auction was live, I entered decisively:
We secured the property $10,000 under budget, with the opposing bidders running out of confidence while we stayed calm and controlled.
Greg walked away with a home he loved — not because he had the biggest budget, but because we managed the timing, pressure, and psychology better than the competition.
Winning at auction has very little to do with being loud, aggressive, or financially reckless. It’s about control and understanding that auctions are emotional games wrapped in legal formality.
We have dedicated buyer’s agents in Box Hill, Fitzroy, Ivanhoe, and all other corners of Melbourne. From handling feasibility studies to auction day representation, it’s safe to say we know our way around the local property market.
We Deliver for Clients. Here are some relevant stats about our services
$102m Properties Purchased
Min 5 / Max 10 Clients on retainer at all times
100+ Townhouse permit approvals
If you’re preparing to buy a home and want to speak with buyer’s advocates in Melbourne, Property Analytics is ready to lend a helping hand! Our experienced advocates can handle all of the following and more:
Our approach is both data-driven and completely personalised. We’re not here to push you into overpaying; we’re here to help you win well.
If you want support, strategy, or simply a clearer path to your next home, take advantage of our free initial discovery call today!
03 9497 5429
