Agents to auction off houses

Johannesburg - In the challenging property market, estate agents are taking a fresh look at auctions as a means of selling property.

Auctions have increased in popularity over the past year, largely because they are a quick and efficient way to dispose of property.

Experts reckon combining the skills of estate agents and the formulaic success of auctions could deliver satisfying results.

In the past week Re/Max Southern Africa announced a strategic partnership with Yellow Hammer to supply auctioneering services to the property market.

At the same time Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty announced its own auction venture, Saville Row Auctions.

Andrew Smith, a director of Yellow Hammer, anticipates that most estate agents will go over to auctioning at some point.

He says that Yellow Hammer's concept differs from traditional methods of auctioning in that it combines estate agents' out-of-hand methods of selling with auctioning.

"Where the difference comes in is that the agent manages the whole process and remains in control of the transaction until completion."

Estate agents are experts in their field, with the relevant skills and contacts to increase exposure of the property on the market. The auction platform is then used to conclude the transaction efficiently.

Smith says auctions are currently the most active market for sellers and in this way agents can earn an income in less time and from a broader spectrum.

Yellow Hammer works independently of the estate agents and does not compete with them.

Adrian Goslett, assistant regional director of Re/Max Southern Africa, says the skills of estate agents overseas have long been combined with the auction process, delivering satisfactory results.

Sotheby's chairperson Lew Geffen says he has always believed in a free market and the auction platform is the best way to realise a free-market price quickly and efficiently.

Saville Row Auctions will focus mainly on commercial and industrial property, but will also put residential and recreational property under the hammer.

Geffen says properties not sold on auction can always be sold out of hand afterwards.

- Sake24.com

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