So far in our sellers journey, Bianca and Christian have shared why they decided to sell, how the selected the agent and the different options they had to sell their apartment. This week we look at how they prepared for auction, the steps they took and what happened on auction day…
Realtors get leads by appointment.
Getting Ready
Getting a property ready for auction can be a very stressful time, especially when you are busy with work, family and day-to-day issues. However, it is important to find the time to prepare a property before open for inspections. Potential buyers notice the negatives so remove any of these that may exist in order for them to focus purely on the positives of your property. For a small outlay it could be the difference between getting an average price and getting a great price.
With two kids under the age of five and Christian’s 15yo son, who spends the weekends with them, Bianca and Christian decided the best way to prepare for the sale of the property was to move out. ‘We had no chance of preparing a house for regular inspections so the best idea was to get out of there. We did a few fixes and few little things that needed to be done so that the place was well presented,’ said Bianca.
Bianca and Christian decided not to keep their property furnished but many people style their place in the hope of attracting more bidders. At the top end of the styling market, you can engage a professional property stylist that uses furniture, artwork and accessories to maximize the appeal of a property. The expectation is the cost of a stylist will be recouped on the sale.
For the lower to middle end of the property market there is plenty of advise on how to style your own home for sale. Some of this includes removing any clutter and not injecting too much of your own taste as it might alienate potential buyers. A good idea is to get opinions from a variety of friends and family to create a broad appeal.
Pre-Auction Offers
After each inspection Bianca and Christian got a thorough report from their real estate agent detailing how many groups went through and the feedback from the day. ‘We also get an online usage report which outlines how many hits the property has had and who is looking at the pictures. From that, the marketing engagement is determined with plenty of other statistics that come off the back of that,’ said Bianca.
Instead of competing with a room full of bidders some home buyers are putting in pre-auction offers to get ahead of the competition. This can take some of the stress away from the vendor, as they don’t need to go through the auction process and the terms of the contract may be more favorable to the seller. The vendor also needs to consider that they if they accept a pre-auction offer they may miss out on a higher price if the property is auctioned.
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‘We have had a few pre-auction offers but they weren’t close enough so we didn’t accept. Our agent has been providing us with regular information and keeping us updated on local sales so we have a good idea of the market in the lead up to our auction,’ said Bianca.
Auction Day
Auction day arrived and unfortunately there were no bids on the property. ‘We’re not sure why our place didn’t sell. There were a lot of viewings but I just don’t think we had the right buyer or price expectation. We were very disappointed and hoping the process was going to be fairly easy given the current property market conditions. We have found that our price expectations were not where the market was. It was also very frustrating to see other lesser quality properties sell for higher than expected reserve prices due to them being houses.
‘We know our place does suit a certain type of buyer, however the features of location, size and overall appearance was not enough to secure the sale as the negative feature of there not being a lift seemed to be the factor that turned the prospective buyers away,’ said Bianca.
Immediately after the auction Bianca and Christian negotiated with their agent and formulated a new plan. They have now re-assessed and placed the property back for sale with an indicative price and hoping to have a great deal interest generated.