Published 09/11/2026. Figures are from the first screening, 05/11/2026, and will change.
Every week, hundreds of North East properties are listed for auction. Most will never be worth an investor's time. Some look cheap because something is wrong with them. A few are genuinely interesting. Auction Watch is how AyNik sorts one from the other before anyone spends money on a solicitor or a survey.
This first weekly article explains how it works, what the score can and cannot tell you, and what happened in the first full screening.
The buy box: the rules before the score
Before a lot is scored, it has to fit the buy box. These are AyNik's published criteria, and they are deliberately strict.
- Areas: postcode areas NE, DH, SR and TS only.
- Price: a guide or asking price between £5,000 and £200,000.
- Types: terraced and semi-detached houses, and flats only where the block is freehold.
- Time: at least 7 days before the auction, so there is time to read the legal pack.
- Kill switches: a lease under 80 years, a possessory or qualified title, flood zone 3, or a listing that mentions structural movement, underpinning or Japanese knotweed.
A lot that fails any of these is dropped, however cheap it looks. Lots with non-price costs above £4,000 are not dropped, but they carry a "high costs" flag so the costs are visible.
The AyNik Score: 100 points, six parts
Every lot that passes the buy box gets a score out of 100.
| Part | Points | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Value | 30 | Expected price against estimated value |
| Income | 25 | Gross yield on the expected price plus works |
| Demand | 15 | Rental and sales demand in the district |
| Fit | 15 | How closely it matches the buy box |
| Condition | 10 | Works implied by the listing and the EPC |
| Context | 5 | Flood, crime and planning checks |
Lots scoring 75 or more are Band A, 60 to 74 Band B, and 45 to 59 Band C.
Two of the rules matter more than the rest.
Value gets full points when the expected price is 70% of the estimated value or less, and none at 100%. The estimate comes from PropertyData's valuation for the property, checked against recent sold prices in the district.
Income gets full points at a 10% gross yield and none at 7%. The yield is a year's estimated rent divided by the expected price plus the cost of works. It is before every other cost, so it is a filter, not a return.
Expected price, not guide price
A guide price is set by the auctioneer to attract bidders. It is not the expected sale price, and lots often sell well above it. Scoring on the guide would make almost everything look like a bargain.
So the score uses an expected price of the guide plus 20%. That figure is an AyNik assumption, and we will adjust it as auction results come in and we can compare our scores with what lots actually sold for. Where a guide is a range, we score on the top of the range.
When a guide is below 40% of the estimated value, the card says so. That gap usually means one of two things: a problem in the legal pack, or a reserve well above the guide. Either way, read the pack before you spend anything.
What happened in the first screening
The first full run checked 764 North East lots from PropertyData's auction feed, retrieved on 05/11/2026.
| Step | Lots |
|---|---|
| Listed and checked | 764 |
| Already sold subject to contract | 192 removed |
| Flats not in a freehold block | 154 removed |
| Outside NE, DH, SR and TS | 103 removed |
| Detached houses, outside the buy box | 41 removed |
| Ground rents and commercial lots | 2 removed |
| Left to score | 272 |
| Auction less than 7 days away | 61 set aside |
| No reliable value estimate yet | 51 set aside |
| Scored in full | 160 |
From the 160, we shortlisted the top 20, checked them by hand, and published 7 on the Auction Watch page for the week of 09/11/2026. The page can show up to 12. Where AyNik has read the legal pack, the card says so and lists the points to check. Where we have not, the card says "Legal pack not yet read by AyNik".
About one lot in five that we checked survived to a full score. That is the point: the score saves time by ruling things out, not by picking winners.
What the score cannot tell you
A score is built from the listing and the data. The legal pack is where the surprises live, and no score replaces reading it. From the packs read so far:
- A council covenant that limits a house to a single private dwelling, which rules out an HMO or serviced accommodation.
- A ground-floor Tyneside flat with no register in the pack for its leasehold title.
- A tenancy agreement with the rent left blank, so the actual rent was unknown.
- A pack with no searches at all, so the buyer pays for their own.
None of these show up in a guide price or a photograph. The next articles in this series go through what a legal pack tells you, one issue at a time.
Free legal pack check, until 31/12/2026
Until 31/12/2026, AyNik will read the legal pack for an Auction Watch lot free of charge, up to 3 a week, first come first served. You get a short list of points to raise with your solicitor. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace your solicitor or a survey.
How we handle conflicts
AyNik may bid on some lots itself. Two rules keep that honest. Once an investor asks us about a lot, AyNik does not bid on it. And lots we may bid on are marked on the list and take no enquiries.
AyNik is also paid a sourcing fee when it introduces a property you buy. The fee and terms are on our sourcing terms page and are agreed before any deal details are shared.
Before you bid
Auction contracts usually become binding when the hammer falls or the online timer ends. You will normally need the deposit on the day and the rest within the time in the auction conditions. The Common Auction Conditions default to 20 business days, and many lots set their own date.
So the order is always the same: read the pack, view the property if you can, arrange your finance, set a maximum and walk away if bidding passes it.
Auction Watch is AyNik's own ranking of lots against published criteria. It is not advice to bid and not a valuation. Guide prices are set by auctioneers and are not the expected sale price. Read the legal pack and take your own legal and survey advice before bidding. AyNik is not acting for the seller of any lot shown unless stated.
See this week's ranked lots on Auction Watch, and ask us to read a pack while the free check lasts.