Auctions
Robert Williams is able to offer an extremely professional auction service to its clients through an associated company The Property Auction Group Ltd, which runs regular south west property auctions at the Novatel Hotel in Plymouth.
By using Robert Williams to sell your property at auction you will not only gain from the technology, experience and advertising provided by the auction company itself, but further marketing and coverage directly from our central Exeter office.
We have listed below, some useful information on the auction process, but please feel free to contact us directly for an Auction Appraisal, to find out if your property might be suitable.
Advantages to selling at Auction
An auction is a public sale and, if prepared properly i.e., with intensive marketing, advertising and mailing, will result in the greatest possible exposure of the lots offered. To maximise the effectiveness of the marketing, considerable thought must be given to the guide price, which needs to be set so that it will generate competitive bidding in the auction room, thus ensuring that the best price is being achieved.
Although some properties are more suitable for sale by private treaty i.e., through a conventional estate agency, selling by this method can often result in an agreement of a price, followed by a long period of time before contracts are exchanged. Often a sale by this method breaks down and the impact of the marketing is lost. An auction sale however has the effect of focusing the minds of potential purchasers. These purchasers, have the added benefit of knowing that there is a genuine intention on the part of the vendor to sell - buyers don’t want to waste time investigating a property only to find out it is either in a chain which breaks own, an original accepted offer is then rejected or the property is overpriced.
Crucially at auction you dictate the terms of the contract, which are printed in the form of the Special Conditions of Sale prepared by solicitors on your behalf. These conditions together with the auctioneer’s General Conditions and Notices to Prospective Buyers will form the basis of the contract. Prior to the sale you therefore maintain control.
The auction method offers a higher degree of certainty that a sale will be achieved on a given day. On the fall of the hammer at auction, there is an immediate binding contract. In this way, the uncertainty surrounding a sale by other methods is removed. The entire sale process, from instruction to exchange of contracts, can be achieved within as little as six to eight weeks.
Who sells at auction?
In addition to some of the organisations who have regularly used this method of sale for many years (such as building societies, housing associations, trusts, local authorities, public bodies and property companies), the last decade has seen a huge increase in the numbers of private individuals using this route. Auction is now regarded as the optimum method of sale for many sellers.
For organisations with a large number of properties to sell, e.g., building societies with repossessions, auctions provide a highly efficient method of sale. For public bodies there is the added advantage of it being entirely open and transparent. Unusual properties that are difficult to value are often sold at auction, as are leisure properties and development land. Residential investments (tenanted properties), and in fact most types of property are suitable for auction provided that a realistic reserve price is agreed.
Why Choose RobertWilliams.co.uk and The Property Auction Group ?
- The Property Auction Group works in association with over 70 independent estate agency offices throughout the South West.
- The South West is an area where selling at Auction is a well-established method of sale and The Property Auction Group has many highly experienced Auctioneers.
- Experienced Auction Advisers are able to offer a Fast Turn Around – No Obligation – Auction Appraisal.
- The company brings together agents with hundreds of years of experience to offer clients an expert service in dealing with all types of residential and commercial property, as well as land, throughout the Region.
- Properties offered for sale with The Property Auction Group will benefit from substantial exposure in key local and regional press, both from RobertWilliams.co.uk and The Property Auction Group as well as featuring in the Auction Catalogue.
- Viewings will be conducted by an experienced member of RobertWilliams.co.uk staff
- Further access via our nationwide database of potential purchasers made possible through our association with the Essential Information Group.
- Online viewing of the auction catalogue and legal packs.
- Real time viewing of the auction bidding online, combined with our telephone bidding service means potential investors unable to attend the auction can still take part.
- Professionally staged auction venue with the latest sound and light technology, including ‘sales vision’, where the lots and bids are projected onto a large screen next to the auctioneer marketing it easier for bidders to keep track of what is happening.