What are the benefits of traditional online auctions for estate agents?

06 February 2020 47672 Views

Property auctions – online or otherwise – can be hugely helpful to sellers, buyers and estate agents.

Online auctions, in particular, are a great place for agents to sell homes as an increasing number of buyers turn to this avenue to purchase a property.

Here, we look closer at why agents should be considering selling a home via an online auction, and the many advantages it can bring.

Speed, clarity and security

We know that consumers crave clarity and security when it comes to house sales and purchases, and too often that isn’t the case with the traditional way of doing things. Here at Under the Hammer, to try and make the process much more seamless, we have created an online platform that provides the speed, clarity, transparency and security that both parties in a transaction will be seeking.

With fixed timeframes for completion, secure transactions and minimum fees, online auctions offer the certainty that property buyers and sellers across the country will be looking for. One of the biggest complaints made by sellers and buyers about the moving process is the time it takes to complete, with the process often held up by frustrating delays. In some cases, chains or transactions collapse completely, leaving everyone frustrated and out of pocket.

The average time it takes between a home being marketed and a buyer moving in is currently 20 weeks (or nearly five months), while the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government claims that some 30% of house sales collapse, often costing buyers or sellers (or both) thousands of pounds.

This isn’t a problem, though, if there are fixed timeframes for completion and a system with transparency at its core. As an agent, you can increase your clients’ chances of selling their homes – and more importantly, selling them quickly – by selling via an online auction platform. Where else can such speedy, secure transactions happen?

A smooth sale

Selling properties via an online auction helps your sellers to achieve the price they want by attracting more buyers, all at once, all competing for their home. Like an in-room auction, a competitive atmosphere is created and this can be to a seller’s advantage as buyers battle it out to secure the home of their dreams.

Alongside this, the security and clarity mentioned above is provided through secure transactions and fixed timeframes. If someone is looking, for one reason or another, to sell quickly, there are few better places to get a result than via an online auction.

No gazundering or gazumping

Two other frequent complaints from buyers and sellers are the practices commonly known as gazumping and gazundering.

In the former case, a seller agrees to a deal with one buyer only to change their mind at the last minute when a higher offer comes in; while in the latter a buyer lowers the offer they have made to the seller of a property, typically right before the exchange of contracts. If a seller is particularly eager to sell, they may feel forced into accepting this lower offer rather than trying to find new buyers.

These stresses and strains are not a problem with an online auction. A guide price is set and bids made accordingly, in real time, either online or in a partner agent’s branch. Anti-money laundering checks are carried out in an instant fashion to ensure that everything is fully compliant and above board.

While the traditional sales model generally sets an asking price and works down, auctioneers do the opposite by setting a guide price and working up – which could be to the benefit of sellers seeking the maximum value for their home.

For the successful, winning bidder in an online auction, the exchange of contracts with the seller happens immediately and then both parties have 56 days to complete (unless otherwise stated in the legal pack).

Online auctions allow for 24/7 bidding on a worldwide basis, making the audience much wider in comparison to a sale through traditional means.

We are there, in other words, to help a sale run as smoothly as possible – which will be music to the ears of you and your customers. Online auctions could offer you a reliable, fast, alternative route to selling.

We already sell homes from top estate agencies across the UK, why not join them?