Apart from going along and bidding, buying a repossessed property at an auction is really no different from buying a property in the conventional manner - except it's almost certainly going to be a fair bit cheaper!

The overall procedure - viewing, sorting your finance, getting a survey done, sorting out the paperwork, etc - is broadly the same. With regard to bidding and finance, if you are buying at auction, you absolutely must make sure that you have a deposit of (usually) 10% on the fall of the auctioneer's hammer. You must also have rock-solid finance in place for settlement in the next 21 to 28 days. Other than that, it's all much the same and you have the same financing options open to you as anyone else buying in the usual way.

You may have some cash already - from savings, an inheritance, a redundancy cheque, the sale of a business or whatever. That's just what you need to get started! If not, you'll have to look at the other options available.

If you're an established home owner, you're almost certainly sitting on a pile of cash in the form of equity in your existing property.

Your house might have doubled in value in the past four or five years! You could use this equity by re-mortgaging your property, paying off the existing mortgage and using the balance to fund your repossession buy. Talk to a mortgage broker now (see Yellow Pages) and you should get yourself a good deal at the moment. There are lots about!

When planning to re-mortgage, check the terms and conditions of your existing mortgage first, of course. If you're halfway through an existing discount deal, you may have various redemption penalties to take account of. Also, don't automatically re-mortgage with your existing lender. You'll usually do much better by shopping around.

Credit cards can sometimes be used to raise cash fast. Trawl through the press, and you'll find lots of offers for cards such as Egg and Marbles with lengthy interest-free periods. Many property entrepreneurs have started in this way - a couple of new cards, some promotional cheques, interest-free periods for six months and you're looking at some 'free' cash fast.

Of course, this is potentially risky so approach it with care. You need to be 100% sure that you can make any repayments that will fall due on these cards; and on time, of course. You will also want to be sure that you can sell on that property within the, say, six-month interest-free period and can settle the cards before the high interest kicks in. Financing via credit cards can and does work - but it comes with risks. Make sure you could maintain payments - with interest  - if you can't sell fast. Better safe than sorry!         

Much the same applies to the other conventional forms of borrowing that are available to you such as overdrafts, loans, mortgages etc. You need to be 100% sure that you can manage the borrowings. You must be able to maintain payments after the property purchase, during any value-adding period, and up to the point when you sell! Think of the worst-case scenario - you can't sell as fast as you'd like! What happens then? 

It might be worth considering starting a property syndicate to share profits and risks!

Property syndicates are increasingly popular. Instead of going it alone, you work with two, three, five or more people, putting in money, skills and expertise to buy and sell property. You may want to get together with other, like-minded entrepreneurs to share expertise, know-how and money. This can be a good way to get onto the property ladder.