It’s no secret that the property market is red hot right now and this has led to an increase in the number of homes being sold under the hammer.

Auctions can be daunting at the best of times but are particularly so when the market is fiercely competitive and there are large numbers of buyers for every property going up for sale.

But don’t let the level of buying activity intimidate you because you have just as much chance of walking away with the keys to your dream home as anyone else… you just have to be the highest bidder on auction day.

A lot of this comes down to doing your research and due diligence beforehand and being prepared for the variety of auction day scenarios that could arise.

Here are some tips that may help:

Visit other auctions

The auction you want to bid at shouldn’t be the first auction you’ve ever attended. It’s well worth taking the time to head to as many auctions as you can to get a feel for how they work and to give you the chance to start to recognise any common strategies that might be utilised by winning bidders.

Have a game plan

Before auction day you should come up with a strategy of how you’re going to go about bidding – for example, will you jump in early or wait until you know the property is on the market before you place a bid?

Everybody has their own way of doing things and it can help if you play out how things might go on the day beforehand to figure out how you might respond in different situations.

The best strategy is being a confident bidder though, which being prepared will help you with.

Make yourself known to the agent

Don’t hide away in the corner where nobody can see you because when you bid you want to be in clear view of the auctioneer.

Chat to the selling agent beforehand so they know you’re a serious buyer. They can help guide you on auction day and will likely come over to you during the auction to make sure you don’t miss out any opportunities to make your bid.

Set a clear limit

Above all else, decide on the price you’re willing to spend up to and don’t go over this amount.

Similarly, don’t be afraid to bid up to the amount you decide on. It’s easy to get psyched out by what other buyers are doing on auction day and lose your confidence, and sometimes when this happens bidders drop out even when they are happy to pay more.

Try not to be phased by what other people are doing, even if it looks like they have endless pockets, because you don’t know what their limits are.

Just decide on your own what you think the value of the property is and bid up to it, and if the price goes above what you want to spend then it’s time to move on and you can count the auction as experience for next time.

But hopefully you’re the last bidder standing, in which case you’ll get to enjoy being a proud new homeowner.