Thursday, August 26, 2010

An online auction gives you 3 ways to sell


One of the many benefits of using an online real estate auction to market a property is that it gives you 3 ways to sell the property during the process.

1st way (Pre-bidding): Instead of letting people bid on the property as soon as it goes online, you can advertise it in a "preview" mode before bidding opens. By having it in "preview" mode for 7-10 days before opening the bidding, you create the urgency for buyers to submit a written offer and get it under contract so they don't have to compete. The seller can accept a pre-bidding offer and cancel the auction before online bidding opens.

2nd way (Online bidding): This is the most obvious. At the end of the online auction, the high bidder puts the property under contract as expected by the terms.

3rd way (Post auction): If for some reason, the bidding doesn't meet the reserve price, the auction process will have produced a list of buyer leads interested in the property. You can contact all of them, let them know the seller is interested in the highest and best offer they are willing to submit.

If you'd like to learn more about this process join our next online real estate auction training session.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Why would I do an online auction?

"Why would I do an online auction?" - I get this question a lot from real estate agents who are not familiar with using online auctions to market and sell their clients property.

Here are the top 10 reasons....

10) Nobody's been through the property in weeks.

9) You're tired of the seller complaining that you are NOT "doing anything".

8) The seller has moved out and is making 2 house payments.

7) The seller is facing foreclosure and needs an offer for a short sale.

6) Your seller insists you keep doing open houses EVERY weekend.

5) You want to be able to offer something other than another "price reduction".

4) You seller doesn't want to hear about another price reduction.

3) You are an "innovative" Realtor who offers better solutions than your competition.

2) You and the seller just want an offer....ANY offer, PLEEEEASE!

1) You know everything you need to know about running your own online auction because you attended our online auction training event.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Why use an Online Auction?

Do you consider yourself a progressive real estate agent who keeps up with technology? Are you using online auctions yet?

Here are some of the advantages/reasons to look at adding online auctions to your services.

Reason #1: It's a Quick Sale
An online auction gives the owner an opportunity to sell at today's prices and not wait for a buyer to bring an offer.

Reason #2: High Carrying Costs are Avoided
All property incurs costs during it's marketing period. By accelerating the sale the owner will substantially reduce the holding costs such as debt service, taxes, HOA fees, insurance, maintenance, etc.

Reason #3: Property Market Value can be Demonstrated
Instead of relying on the appraiser to assign an asking price, the auction process demonstrates the value of the property to the sellers and potential buyers. Selling a property using the traditional method, you may wonder whether you could have bargained higher. If a property is sold at auction, the proof of the market value is in the process itself, the selling price is truly market-driven.

Reason #4: Auctions Receive Maximum Marketplace Exposure
The marketing time frame for an online auction is more condensed than in traditional methods. Additionally, buyers are naturally attracted to auctions because they are different. They stand out and buyers become curious. Buyers don't want to miss out on a great deal so they visit the property.

Reason #5: An Urgency to Buy is Created
An online auction has a specific ending date/time. A sense of urgency is created: "buy this property today, it won't be here or available when the bidding ends". It forces hesitant buyers to act.

Those are some of the main reasons, to learn more about using online real estate auctions join us on our next training session.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Have you heard of online bidding?


Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to a group of Coldwell Banker Agents at their office in Kirkwood (St. Louis, MO area).

It was a great group and I was able to share how online bidding works and how they can offer it as an option to their sellers.

Almost everyone had no idea this option was so easily available to them and there were lots of great questions. Here are some of them...

Q: Is the seller forced to sell to the highest bidder?

A:
No, the most common practice in the industry is to state in the auction terms that "Winning bid is subject to seller approval". In the case of a short sale, "Winning bid is subject to lender approval".

Q: How do people find out about the online auction?

A:
Marketing is key. Yard signs, flyers, postcards, Craigslist, MLS, etc. Most agents do some sort of marketing campaign around a new listing, you would want to do the same thing for an online auction.

Q: How long should an online auction last?

A:
In general 3 weeks or less, but it can depend on the property and marketing campaign you have planned. I've seen online auctions done successfully in as little as a week.

Q: Do people buy a property site unseen?

A:
It does happen, but it's rare. You have to expect to hold at least 2 open house "previews" during your marketing period so buyers have easy access to see it. Open house previews should be 2 hours or less so you can get multiple buyers in at the same time, creating competition.

Q: Aren't auctions just for distressed properties?

A:
Not anymore. Cher recently sold a property in Hawaii she owned at auction, pocketing a $2.5 Million profit. Check out this beautiful property in Texas up for auction.

Overall, it was a great group of agents with great questions and now they have an additional "tool" they can offer their clients.

If you'd like to have this additional "tool" too, register here.