Ten years ago the reaction of a solicitor instructed by a client who was selling at auction was usually one of relief, with the pile of title deeds and much of the thought process being quickly dismissed to the bottom of the in-tray.

But those who have not experienced a property auction in the last decade will be surprised to learn that the auction forum has progressed in leaps and bounds since the early days.

Unfortunately, the attitudes of both buyers' and sellers' legal advisers has not really moved on much, with solicitors unprepared and very often uninterested.Alongside the developer and speculator in the auction room enter the businessman, the family anxious to secure a new home and the single young professional looking for her first flat.

After all, there is no waiting around for chains and the answering of enquiries, no argument about deposits and whether the wall lights are staying.

Once the hammer goes down that i s it, both parties are committed.A number of the larger auctioneers now prepare guides for buyers of residential property in an effort to educate the novice bidder.

These go through the procedure on the day, how to bid and, most importantly, make it clear that the fall of the hammer means contractual commitment.

These guides go a long way in informing the layperson as to the procedures, but what about the legal questions?There is no reason why the seller's solicitor should be less inclined to assist prospective buyers prior to auction than prior to exchange by private treaty.Most auctioneers have their own standard form general conditions which are much more tightly drafted than those you would find in the average sale by private treaty.

These are coupled with the special conditions which are drafted by the individual seller's solicitors.On a practical note, many individual solicitors are utilising a different form of contract from the auctioneers, so that whilst the general conditions are drafted around, say, the national conditions, the seller's solicitors will draft their special conditions (or rather, run off their standard form special conditions) based on the standard conditions, which rather makes a nonsense of the whole thing.The general and special conditions will often seek to exclude the seller's liability for almost everything and commit the buyer to as much as they can get away with.

Points to watch out for include:-- The provisions for interest rates often include a high minimum rate (ie 5% above base rate with a minimum of 15%) and usually a provision that interest shall be paid not on the balance of the money outstanding but on the total purchase price.-- The contract will often take away the obligations of the buyer to advise the seller of any new matter affecting the property which comes to light between exchange and completion.-- Some sellers like the deposit to be held by the auctioneers or solicitors as agents.

As with any transaction, this is always a risk and should be brought to the buyer's attention.

If the deposit cheque bounces then the seller can take this as a repudiation of the contract.

Buyers must always make sure they have sufficient funds or a very understanding bank manager before they commit themselves.-- In so far as the title is concerned, buyers are usually obliged to accept the title and raise no further enquiries about it after exchange.

This is a point often missed by buyers' solicitors who send off enquiries before contract after the auction with a note explaining that as they have only recently been instructed they were not able to enquire earlier.

Not surprisingly these enquiries are usually returned unanswered.

The moral of this is 'he who hesitates, litigates'.-- The general conditions will sometimes contain a clause allowing the seller to let, underlet, assign or change the use of any leasehold property between exchange and completion without further reference to the buyer.

This could come as a nasty surprise.-- The question of licence to assign is always difficult.

Most auctioneers lay down strict time limits within which references must be produced and the general conditions will also provide that the buyer may have to produce two personal guarantors if so required by the landlord.

It should also be checked that the contract is conditional upon the landlord's licence being obtained within a reasonable time and who pays the landlord's fee.-- If your client is intending to sell the property on immediately, he or she will usually find a restriction in the general c onditions preventing a subsale without the seller's consent, so 'back to back' deals when a transfer is made directly to the sub-purchaser in order to save stamp duty and Land Registry fees will not usually work.-- If the sale is by mortgagees in possession, it should be remembered that the legal charge does not usually cover the furniture which may be left at the property and so technically the seller has no power to sell it.

This is usually specifically referred to in the special conditions.There is a tendency for sellers' solicitors to repeat the bulk of the general conditions, usually because they have not bothered to read what has been sent to them by the auctioneers.

Usual special conditions to watch out for include:-- Accepting the title as it is.

Sometimes properties are sold at auction because they have some 'technical hitch' in their title.

Whilst some of these problems are rectifiable with a little effort, the position must be properly investigated prior to the auction otherwise there is a danger that this 'technical hitch' may make the property totally unmortgageable.-- If the property is a flat there may be an obligation on the buyer to clear the arrears of ground rent and service charge.

This could well amount to more than a few pounds and may even amount to thousands (some general conditions also cover this point).-- A condition may be included by which the buyer reimburses the seller for all searches, enquiries and surveyors' fees that have been expended by the seller.

Unless the property is clearly marked as one on which a 'buyer's service' is offered, in which case the buyer will know that all the ground work has been done, then the buyer has probably carried out his or her own searches and enquiries and so will not be best pleased at having to pay them twice.-- If there is an existing tenancy then buyers will be expected to pay all arrears of rent at the date of completion and then recover it themselves.

Again, this may amount to substantial sums and the authenticity of any 'rent arrears' should be carefully checked before the auction as well as the likelihood of recovery.-- Sellers' solicitors often charge the buyer up to £100 for preparing a standard form Land Registry transfer which can be a nasty surprise in the completion statement if the buyer is not aware.-- If the property comprises the freehold of a residential block there will usually be an exclusion saying that the seller cannot confirm that the appropriate procedure of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 has been followed.

Therefore it may be that after completion the buyer will receive a notice from the existing tenants insisting that the freehold be transferred to them for the same price.-- If the seller has a share in the management company and the property is being sold by mortgagees in possession, do the mortgagees have the power to sign a stock transfer form or does the company have some other procedure for the issuing of a share? Otherwise a buyer may be in breach of the lease by not taking on a share in the company through no fault of his or her own.-- A buyer should be particularly vigilant on the auction day to ensure that there are no additional special conditions.

These will be read out or referred to by the auctioneer prior to bidding and unfortunately the all important, title threatening special conditions may be left until this time.Most buyers will usually leave it very late before appearing on your door to announce that they want to buy a property at auction.

Some do not even bother seeking legal advice until after th ey have bought their property and are most indignant to learn that there is little or nothing you can do to rectify a hopelessly unmortgageable title.So when a panic-stricken potential buyer appears on your doorstep, the following areas should be considered:-- Get copies of the title deeds.

If the title is defective to the point that your only advice is 'don't touch it with a barge pole' there is no point in a buyer proceeding if they are relying on a mortgage.-- Get the property surveyed.

This will not only give a price guide for bidding purposes (especially if the buyer is relying on a mortgage) but may also mean that provided the buyer picks a surveyor who is on his or her building society's panel, then this survey may suffice for mortgage purposes if the buyer is successful.

This should be clarified with the lender in advance.-- If the property is leasehold you will need service charge details, receipts and preferably the telephone number of the managing agents for an informal chat about the building.

This will often tell you more about the building than anything the seller has to say, particularly about future works, problems with management and whether or not the other residents are the sort of neighbours to whom your client is likely to relate.-- There are, of course, all the usual searches and enquiries to be completed.

If the property is in Yorkshire then there should be coal-mining searches.

If, for example, it is perched on the edge of the sea, is it designated as part of the flood protection for the area and liable to reclamation by the National Rivers Authority? These are all the basic questions you would raise if you were sitting in your office doing a normal conveyancing transaction but at auctions it seems that normality, due diligence and practicality all seem to disappear.No longer is the auction buyer necessarily interested in buying a run down property with its share of problems.

With quality repossessions, relocations and private sellers there are now sufficient properties on the market to ensure a general interest from all corners of the property owning public.

This means that buyers will be much more concerned about unexpected problems and the risk of potentially unmortgageable property.Their concern will turn to something much more financially damaging, particularly if they have asked you to investigate the property from a legal point of view and unfortunately the documents never saw the light of day before the client was already committed.In addition to the 'traditional auction sellers' such as speculators, mortgagees, trustees and public bodies etc there are also large institutions and relocation companies which are now selling more and more good quality properties through auction in order to maintain a higher turnover and minimise their period of responsibility for any property under their care.

They appreciate the speed and certainty which only an auction can provide.In most cases sellers will be anxious to ensure that all the documentation is available as early as possible for the buyers to look at including special conditions, up to date title documents, searches and possibly a housebuyer's survey.

They will not be best pleased to discover that buyers have gone elsewhere because none of these are available.

However, it is surprising how often this happens.For those acting for sellers there are a number of points to note:-- If there is something wrong with the title then this needs to be clearly dealt with in the special conditions, otherwise the buyer will presume he or she is gettin g a good title and completion may flounder when the successful bidder discovers that the title consists of no more than a few statutory declarations.-- If you are acting in connection with a repossessed flat then the seller will certainly not want to be bothered with retentions and apportioning excesses once the present year's service charge accounts are published.

This position must be clearly covered in a special condition if it is not already included in the general conditions.-- If the property is a freehold block caught by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 and if the proper procedures for offering the freehold to the tenants have not been followed then again this must be specifically referred to in the contract.

The buyer will then run the risk that the tenants will come to him or her following the sale and insist that the freehold is transferred to them.-- If the seller wants to be reimbursed for the local search or any other disbursement, again this should be referred to because otherwise the buyer is perfectly within his or her rights to refuse to pay any additional charges on completion.The seller should also take advice on the auctioneers' contract which he or she will usually be asked to sign before the property is accepted into the auction.

Points to note include:-- The auctioneers' agency usually extends for at least a month after the auction.

This means that if the property does not sell at auction but the seller finds a private buyer two weeks later he or she will still be responsible for the auctioneers' commission.-- The seller will usually have to pay an 'entry fee' to the auctioneers, notwithstanding whether the property sells or not.

This covers the cost of catalogues and advertising.

On top of this, there will also be a commission payable if the property sells - usually up to 2% for sole agency or up to 3% for joint agency, and the auctioneer will usually have the right to deduct his or her fees from the deposit held.-- If the property is withdrawn prior to auction there will usually be a withdrawal fee based on the reserve price.

This means that a seller must be quite sure that he or she wants to proceed by way of auction, otherwise it can prove an expensive change of heart.-- As with all agents' contracts, they must be scrutinised to ascertain exactly when the commission is payable.

If it is payable on exchange, ie being knocked down at auction, then it may be payable notwithstanding that for one reason or another completion does not take place.-- The reserve price will be agreed in advance with the auctioneer who will be able to advise shortly before the auction based on the market interest shown prior to sale.

The auctioneer will usually reserve the right to withdraw the property from the auction if (in his or her opinion) the seller wants to increase the reserve to an unrealistic figure.

A fee may be incurred under such circumstances.-- It is important to note the auctioneer's powers in the auction room on the day, as situations may arise which will require the auctioneer to act without taking further instructions from the seller.

These situations should be anticipated and dealt with beforehand:(a) Can the auctioneer refuse bids at his or her discretion and settle disputes between bidders?(b) What if a bidder fails to give his or her name and address and pay a deposit.

Is the auctioneer entitled to re-offer the property given that most of the interested bidders have probably left the room?(c) Should the auctioneer accept cheques from bidders or would the seller prefer cash or a banker 's draft?(d) Can the auctioneer bid on the seller's behalf? Can he or she accept telephone bids?All these matters should be covered in the contract between the auctioneers and the seller.Auctions are no longer the poor relation of sale by treaty, with legal and practical complications governing most sales.

For a buyer, it is important to have as much information as possible and for a seller it is vital that solicitors are fully prepared for any questions and problems that may arise before the auction.For those auctioneers who have appreciated the subtle changes in the auction forum, the rewards are great.

They have built up a large core of sellers who appreciate that the auctioneer will do his or her best to ensure all parties are aware of what is required.This necessitates sending out information sheets to sellers and their solicitors, making it clear which documents are required and how quickly.

It also includes providing a buyer's service on certain more prestigious lots and arranging for free independent legal advisers to be available to answer the questions of anxious buyers.