Going, going, gone! Getting the most out of buyers at auction

Real Estate

Team MONEYME|19 July 2022| 3-minute read

The atmosphere at an auction is intense.

Clenched bidders stand in silos – quietly shaking, eyes darting around the room, palms sweating as the air fills with nervous apprehension, excitement, and competitive energy. 

It’s the competition, the fear of losing that generates a buzz when a property goes up for auction.

Ray White Norwood sales executive Linda Clemente is passionate about auctions and the results that they drive.

“I always recommend auctions before anything,” said Clemente. 

“It creates competition because the buyers are there in front of each other, it’s a bit like the gladiators, they’re fighting between each other, there’s no interference from me.” 

But how do you get the gladiators to enter the arena in the first place?

It’s all about the process

An auction doesn’t come down to luck, there is a certain way of doing things that brings about results.

“For our auctions we run a process, if the process is done correctly, things always fall into place,” said Joseph Nasr, sales agent area specialist at LJ Hooker Guildford. 

Nasr is one of the top-ranking salespeople in the entire LJ Hooker network.

“It’s the process that gets the people there,” he said. “We don’t just put it on the internet, and forget about it. We’re on the phones constantly calling potential buyers.”

Ray White Norwood is an auction-based agency. Over 600 auctions have been collectively scheduled by the agency since the start of the financial year. 

“We actually drive people to that first open,” said Clemente.

In October Clemente had 31 bidders register for an auction in the Adelaide suburb of  Rostrevor. The property went on to clear the reserve price by $216,000.

Register to bid, bid to buy

The more bidders that register for an auction the more buyers who will raise their paddle, upping the price.

“On the day you’ll probably get half of them that will be actively bidding, the other half will just keep their arms folded,” said Nasr.

The presentation of the property is key to getting prospective homeowners and property investors to register.

“If the house presents well, looks like it’s going to be minimal maintenance, and that it’s going to be a happy place for them to live in or to invest in, then they’re going to buy it,” he said.

For Clemente, a property that presents as clean and tidy is far more likely to entice bidders, which in turn creates a sense of competition, encouraging people to put their best foot forward.

Get the most out of the market and present your next property for auction with the help of ListReady.