Thanks for the advice. So, if buying at auction, you show the contract to your own solicitor prior to the auction? Seems sensible to me, only our mortgage broker said you only need to appoint a solicitor after signing the contract? Same for searches. If you pay for all the searches prior to the auction, then don't get the house, this is a huge expense. But is that just what you have to do when buying at auction? We don't want to take risks and put a deposit down only to lose it, but similarly we don't want to keep paying thousands of dollars getting contracts checked and searches done, and then getting outbid at the auctions. Yes we are PR residents. Thanks for your help. It feels so unfamiliar compared to the UK. :-)