House auction – my first and last one I’ll attend

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › House auction – my first and last one I’ll attend

1 | 2 | 3

Froglotion

208 posts

Master Geek

#2531401 30-Jul-2020 14:20

Just because people don't bid to a certain amount, doesn't mean the property isn't with that figure. If I took the first offer on my previous place i'd have lost $20k. They gave their offer based on what it was worth to them, sweet as. Someone else offered $20k more as that's what it was worth to them. Which matched what selling the property was worth to us.

JonnyCam

643 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#2531403 30-Jul-2020 14:28

frankv:

BlinkyBill:

Auctions favour buyers, but the agent works for the seller. I would never sell at auction.

The agent works for themselves, not the seller. The agent's aim is to get paid a commission today, not a probable 5% bigger commission perhaps tomorrow. The vendor's loss of 5% of their capital is collateral damage.

The hard sell on the bidders post-auction when it didn't reach reserve would be mirrored by hard sell on the vendors to drop their price to what the top bidder offered. "We've marketed your house really well. The auction was great, with spirited bidding. But, sadly, your house isn't worth what you think."

That doesn't match my experience at all, the estate agent & auctioneer wanted us to set a reserve price we were comfortable with, and said higher was better.

In the end, they kept pushing the bidders price up, and we got a little over what we had set.

Froglotion

208 posts

Master Geek

#2531435 30-Jul-2020 15:11

Ultimately they are looking out for themselves (who isn't). But if they work hard and exceed your expectations, you're going to be very willing to recommend them to others and that is a win. Repeat business / referral business is very valuable.

frankv

5680 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2531476 30-Jul-2020 16:07

JonnyCam:

That doesn't match my experience at all, the estate agent & auctioneer wanted us to set a reserve price we were comfortable with, and said higher was better.

In the end, they kept pushing the bidders price up, and we got a little over what we had set.

The reserve price is only relevant if the bidding gets to it. A high reserve that is met is good for both vendor and agent. My comment was regarding where the reserve isn't met. And I'd suggest that if the vendor has the mindset that their reserve was a bit high to start with, they're more amenable to the idea of reducing the price. And the buyer thinks they're getting a bargain, since they bought it "below reserve".

1 | 2 | 3