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Selling Your Home? Consider an Auction

BY: Gloria Smith
Words: 434

It’s a pity that very few people consider auctioning a house as a viable selling option. This may be because many believe that auctions are only done at Christie’s for small works of art, or done by banks to get rid of their repossessed properties. The latter reason may also be the most compelling reason why home owners would rather not put their house on public auction, and choose to just wait it out.

Unfortunately, waiting for the right time to sell a house or the right person to come along and purchase the house will not be beneficial to your property’s existing market value. Remember that the longer your house stays on the market, the older and the more new competition it gets. Although the land the house rests on may increase in value, the physical structure itself, devalues. In addition, you may be paying extra on taxes and maintenance, expenses that you can do without.

If there is an existing real estate demand or the property rates are high, why not grab the opportunity and put up your unit for an auction. It’s a quick and effective way of selling a property at a short period of time and what makes it different is that you won’t have to accept low offers. When your property is auctioned; you will most likely get maximum returns. Auctions also reduce haggling and negotiations as the buyers are to abide by the terms and conditions (including payment terms and deadlines) the seller sets.

Auctions are usually done in a function room of a realtor’s office. The official valuator will determine the true value of the property and bidding starts from there. By pitting several interested buyers together in one venue, the buyers will know how much they are up against and can easily outbid each other until a buyer offers to buy the property at a price no one would want to match.

Even if your property is up for auction, you are not limited to accepting the bids offered at the auction itself. You may entertain other offers to purchase and, in case the winning bid is lower than an external offer to purchase, you can put the property on hold (or set is aside) until you’ve decided to whom you’d want to sell your home to.

To know more about auctions, their procedures and your responsibility as a seller, it is best that you request a real estate agent to discuss these with you thoroughly.