Online bidding gets the conversation started

In a sea of homes for sale it can be difficult to get buyers interested in your listings.

But what if you did something a little different? Something that very few agents are doing? Something that makes your listings stand out, and gets buyers to make the effort to view it? Something that makes it easy for buyers to make an offer and get the conversation started?

This something is online bidding a.k.a online auction. Many agents are afraid of the "A" word so to better explain it, I call it online bidding.

The concept is simple, market your listings in a manner that attracts attention by starting the price low, but makes it easy for interested buyers to make offers online. This creates excitement and most importantly gets buyers thinking about your listing.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who don't understand how it works. I can tell you it does and is being used successfully today.

In case you're not sure, let me give you the worse case scenario. For 3-4 weeks you attract more attention to a listing than you have for the past 3-4 months. Bidding doesn't reach the sellers minimum price, so what are you left with? A handful of buyers who are willing to negotiate with the seller further. However, even if that doesn't work out, these buyers are looking for homes and many are not represented by agents.

Again, that is worst case. If it's done right, there's a good possibility you sell it to the high bidder which will result in a ripple effect of new business for you.

Online bidding is a great market strategy and if you know little or nothing about it, you'll find it worth your while to do some research. Talk to agents using it successfully, discover the systems that make it easy for you. Try it out for yourself.

53 properties up for online bidding

Introducing 53 properties in Arkansas up for auction until Nov. 2nd at 11:00 a.m. Executive homes, commercial buildings, building lots and acreage.

Lots of great opportunities. Starting at only $5,000.

Check out all details at REI Auctions

Hurry, only 7 days left!

Short sale - Need an offer

In order to avoid foreclosures, lenders are often willing to discount what is owed on a home. This is known as a short sale and it is offered in situations where the homeowner can no longer afford to stay in their house.

The reason lenders are willing to do this is because it can be less expensive than foreclosing and taking the home back.

This situation happens a lot and the homeowner is usually told by the lender bring me the best offer you can and we'll see what we can do.

What's the best way to get an offer?

Many agents list the property in the MLS and in their description they indicate it's a short sale situation. Then, they wait. They usually need to lower the price several times before someone finally makes an offer. Many times taking several weeks and even months. This can be a big problem because the lender will not wait very long before they proceed with the foreclosure.

Is there a better way? Absolutely!

An agent can market a home using online bidding.

The process can take as little as 3 weeks and the result is a solid offer backed by statistics of bids and property showings which can be presented to the lender.

Real estate agents owe their clients a solid market process to get them the best offer in the least amount of time and online bidding/online real estate auctions do just that.

Technology has provided the tool, congratulations to agents taking advantage of it!

Tired of waiting for offers?

The real estate market can be frustrating at times. Your seller wants offers and they want them now! You know the market is slow and homes are sitting for 6 months and longer. What do you do?

What if your seller is being foreclosed on and their lender is willing to do a short sale? You don't have 6 months. How do you get buyers to make offers to present to the lender?

One solution is to use an online auction. They get buyers to take action and they give you an offer to present to the lender or seller, whichever the case.

If you haven't used an online auction before, take some time to check them out. It's a valuable solution in a tough market.

It's no fun to wait, you can take control of the sales process and get 'em sold