Once upon a time (10 years ago at least) some agents used to encourage the auction process over private treaty (for sale). Some of the reasons behind auction marketing favouritism was:

-          Auction marketing is normally on a shorter time frame of 4 weeks, therefore increasing sales turnover and profit for the agent.

-          Because of this shorter time frame, advertising was encouraged to be bigger and bolder to get the maximum number of buyers interested.

-          Property agents like to see their names and portrait photos in print. The bigger the advertisement the bigger their profile! This was a time when print media was the unchallenged medium for real estate marketing.

-          It was common for real estate bosses to incentivize auction listings over private treaty listings i.e. agents earn greater split of commission for auction listing.

10 years ago though real estate agents used brick-sized mobile phones too, so obviously things have changed.

Fast forward to 2010, where online advertising is now a huge part of real estate marketing and has helped to reduce marketing costs. It is now common for an auction advertising campaign to be similar in cost, if not cheaper, than a private treaty campaign.

With an auction campaign there is obviously the additional cost of an auctioneer, but marketing an auction campaign is limited to a 4 week period, whereas private treaty has no deadline and can drag on for months.

One of the positive results of this is that agents are now more inclined to promote and encourage the auction process only if it is suitable to the property and clients needs and not for the agents needs.

In the next blog I will cover ‘The Bidder’s Guide to Auction Day’. Until then!

Check out my last post on On-site vs In-room autions.

• Is my property unique?
• Is my property hard to price because it is so unique?
• How many other properties are on the market with similar characteristics to my property that buyers would be comparing with?

An agent can tell you exactly what market conditions are like.

• Is there a shortage of your type of property on the market?

For example in the middle of winter less people sell but this can be the best time to sell if your house faces north or west and gets loads of sunshine. If there are more buyers than sellers it is the perfect situation.

• Does your property have a view, or is it in a highly sought after position?

Most agents will promote the auction process if your property has either or both of these features. If your house has a characteristic that will lead people to get emotionally attached and thus carried away at auction, go for the auction!

• Is there any number of properties on the market like yours?

Think about what you would do as a buyer. A buyer will look at everything in their price range that seems comparable and if there are a lot of properties like yours on the market, choosing to go to auction could be a mistake. Remember buyers have to do all their inspections prior to auction day with no guarantee they will get the property. When there is plenty of choice for buyers, buyers will tend to look at properties with an asking price before they look at an auction property and spend money on solicitors, pest inspections etc.

Another reason for a vendor to go to auction is time constraints.

- Do you need to be sold in 4 weeks?

- Are you going overseas for work and in a hurry?

- Are you financially strapped and need out?

The auction process puts an end date on the process.

Smart Art Cronulla is now called Artwork2u. The name was chosen to better reflect the core of the business, i.e. we bring the art to the customer.

We specialise in affordable decorative art and no matter what your artwork requirements are, we have a solution;

Real Estate – If you are selling your house, try our short term leasing option to add to the visual impact of your property

Corporate – We offer a free Business Consultation and provide the option of rotating your artwork every 6 months

Residential – Purchase direct from the showroom or book a free, no obligation Home consultation

Interior Designers – We offer free viewing of artwork on site for you and your client

To learn more about our services and how we do all the work for you, visit our new website – www.artwork2u.com.au

Beach & Bay Realty: If you would like your Sutherland Shire business to be featured on our blog please contact info@beachandbay.com.au