I am just wondering that at auction if you buy as "<person name> or nominee" and then use another holding entity as nominee in actual settlement/contract, does it attract stamp duty twice? Is it okay if nominee entity is not incorporated at time of auction?
A person who is dead, not born etc cant contract. What makes you think a entity can make a contract if its not in existence ? Is it a contract with the entity or the bidder ? I always recommend a legal entity is formed and all documents executed etc at LEAST the day prior or far earlier where possible. Not even on the day as it could be argued the chicken came before the egg. And all finance is approved of course. You dont want some glitch where you assume personal lending is approved and then throw a entity into the mix. The lender may change its approval or even refuse it and the auction bid could be costly. To the bidder. The cost of seeking legal advice will likely be far less than the concerns created.
Get your structuring sorted before you go to auction. Be aware that borrowing in different entity types can be difficult, we found this out the hard way after buying a block of land using a company structure. Too late to change without paying stamp duty again!
