An Online Auction Creates 3 Opporunities to Sell

Today I wanted to share a strategy I use that creates 3 opportunities to get a property under contract during an online auction process.

Here they are...

1st opportunity (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 even opens.

This actually happens about 20% of the time. I had an auction once where we got a written offer the first day I put the auction sign out. It turned out the buyer had seen the home when it was previously listed and finally got motivated to do something when he saw it go to auction. In this example, the seller agreed upon a price and we canceled the auction. By far, this was the easiest sale I've ever had.

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

3rd opportunity (Post auction): If for some reason, the bidding doesn't meet the seller's 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 situation and give them the chance to submit their highest and best offer.

From my experience, using these 3 opportunities as part of your online auction strategy will help increase your success rate.

If you'd like to learn more about using online real estate auctions join us September 8th at 2 pm EST