In the January 2014 edition I looked at Lot Analysis and the sources of Due Diligence without having to leave the comfort of your home or office and, given the vagaries of British weather, the more research that you can complete at home the better.

Unfortunately, at some point before the auction, you have to venture out, regardless of weather conditions, and view properties that meet your criteria.

Thankfully I have developed a system that does away with the need for many internal viewings,  but novice investors should always view the property and its immediate neighbourhood (1/4 mile radius) before bidding and buying at auction, principally because online due diligence does not flag up the 'duds', in fact catalogue entries can sometimes be very misleading.

I remember one lot in a catalogue where the text flagged up 'some fire damage' although there was no indication of fire damage in the catalogue picture. Using EIGroup I found that the property had been put up for auction twice in the previous six months and it still remained unsold. On closer examination of the picture, it was clear that the current catalogue picture was a copy of the six-month old picture. The giveaway was that the same car was parked in exactly the same place in each picture. Luckily Google Street view showed the fire damage which, rather than being 'some', was quite extensive, the entire roof was missing! Moral of the story is, always view.