Auction is recognised as being an effective way of creating wide public interest and reaching a large number of prospective purchasers in a short period of time. It is appealing to more and more vendors today it gives you a start and end date to the selling process.

Benefits of auction

• Maximum exposure for maximum market impact.
• There is a clear beginning and end to the selling period.
• Buyer competition and competitive bidding. There is no price barrier. This makes an auction ideal for unusual or highly desirable properties, which may be difficult to put a price on.
• Price protection. Your property will not sell unless bidding reaches your agreed level (reserve price). This also means there is no ceiling price and you could receive a higher price than anticipated if there is competition on your property.
• You set the terms. The vendor can set specific terms such as settlement terms to suit them.
• An unconditional sale. There are no finance or building inspection clauses.
• Due to the short campaign the number of ‘open for inspections’ is limited, so the disruption to family life is minimal.
• Create Urgency. The set auction date encourages potential buyers to act quickly.
• Identifies most likely buyers to negotiate with, if your home is not sold on the fall of the hammer.
• A settlement date is set, providing you with the clarity of a definite moving date.
• Even if the property passes in, buyers are focused so the property should sell later.

Points to keep in mind

• There is no guarantee your property will sell at auction.
• If the market is hot, competitive bidding can push the price of your property far above the reserve.

An important tip

• Settle on a final reserve price (the lowest price you are willing to accept) well before auction day so you don’t end up negotiating half-way through the auction when time, pressure and emotions are high.
• Do not disclose your reserve price with anyone except your agent/auctioneer.

One of Fitzpatricks Real Estate’s auctioneers commented “Auction is a great way to bring some urgency to the marketing of a property with a clear plan of attack. It allows you to sell your home in a much shorter time frame.”

Every property is different and your agent will advise you on the sale method recommended to be most beneficial to selling your property.