With lockdown impact the property market, local real estate agents, vendors and buyers have had to get creative if they want houses to keep selling.
The industry has found an innovative solution to not being able to conduct regular in-person auctions, and some agents suggest they’re attracting an even bigger audience through the online system.
Partner and sales agent at McGrath North Canberra, Justin Taylor said his auctions have been booming since moving them to an online broadcasting system, with a 100 per cent clearance rate over the past four Saturdays.
Mr Taylor said he has sold every single one of his last 18 properties on the market, and the number of registered bidders at auctions has roughly doubled from around seven or eight during normal times to a high of 15 on the online platform.
“It’s a very easy and simple process for buyers, it takes less than five minutes from the comfort of their own home,” he said. “The registration just has to be approved by an agent, so we get an email pending a registration that includes an uploaded picture of their licence, we cross reference the details, and then approve it once we’re happy and it’s done.”
Mr Taylor said during the online auctions the only person the buyers can see is the auctioneer. Meanwhile, McGrath North Canberra general manager, Suzi Wells, the listing agent, the vendors, and a whole host of watchers are all tuned in from their own locations.
He said the extra people watching these online auctions has been about 100 each time, doubling the observers at in-person auctions. His theory around the increase is just the availability of the platform and the convenience.
“I’ve personally found them great and my advice to agents and vendors out there is to not be intimidated or worried about the online platform,” he said.
“I see a lot of auctions forthcoming, and I’d say to those agents to just set a date – it sets a deadline … and I’ve found online auctions to be very positive.”
According to Mr Taylor, the key to a good online auction is having an experienced auctioneer who can use the platform well; such as their exclusive auctioneer Hugh Rainger, who has 20 years’ experience and over 12,000 auctions under his belt.
“There’s no awkward silences and it just flows naturally; there’s virtually no difference if he was at the property or not,” Mr Taylor said.
“He’s got a few screens set up to see the bidding and we’ve got a good system in place where when the vendor accepts the offer, I’ll text his wife a thumbs up and she’ll give him a silent thumbs up from off camera and it’s a really seamless process.”
Overall, Mr Taylor said it’s a streamlined process, far easier to navigate than one might think, and he hasn’t received any negative feedback.
For anyone unfamiliar with the process, he invites them to log on each week and observe other online auctions as they happen.
However, Mr Taylor does miss the emotion of in-person auctions and said it’s human nature for sellers to feel more comfortable when the auction is held on site.
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