Read Time: 4 minutes
Quick Heads-up: This tactic fails about 97 percent of the time.
Try it only if you are prepared to walk away from the deal.
“We love the house, but we don’t want a bidding war.”
Auction day was ten days off. My clients were keen, pre-approved, and nervous.
“Can we stop it going to auction?”
“Yes, but it rarely works.”
Here’s how we tried — and why timing and leverage matter more than price.
Most buyers do not understand how pre-auction offers work*.
They make a strong offer, get rejected, then still turn up on auction day.
Sellers think, “Perfect — bait to lure more bidders.”
A purchaser's true goal is to pull the property from auction and lock in a direct sale before anyone else can bid.
If the seller keeps the auction live, your offer becomes bait, not a deal.
*Some background reading can be found here: Volume 44 - Why I Am Cynical of Pre-Auction Offers
If your client shows up on auction day, they lose their edge — staying out of the crowd.
The room fills, tension rises, and your client may overpay or miss out.
Sellers are not running auctions for fun.
They have paid for photos, ads, an auctioneer, and weeks of open homes. To cancel, they need:
This works best early in the campaign, and when sellers are under pressure (death, divorce, debt), need certainty, or have low turnout at open homes.
Use this five-step playbook:
Finish due diligence fast: Click here to see our Auction Checklist.
Match the seller’s terms. Mirror their settlement date, deposit, and any extras so the agent says, “Clean offer.”
Back your price with data. Show recent local sales, auction clearance rates, and days-on-market figures. Show your offer is above market.
Write an unconditional offer that expires in 24–48 hours.
Remove yourself from the auction. Tell the sellers: “We love your home, but we will not bid at auction if this offer is declined.”
Warn clients to use this sparingly — repeat bluffs lose power.
(In our case, the seller still chose auction.)
