Money and control, and I am not sure which one is the stronger influence, but these two, in my opinion, stop a lot of transactions. I would like to change that, in my little pocket of Southeastern Ohio. As an Auctioneer, I am licensed all over Ohio, in WV, and have sold all over the country, working with real estate from NM, to Maryland.
From what I have seen, auctioneers take the stance, I am going to market the property, everyone will see it anyway, I don't need an agent getting in the way. In many respects, that is true, as a very large portion of real estate agents don't know how a real estate auction works. Truth be known, a lot of auctioneers don't either, as we all have our own specialties. Agents don't seem to like the authoritarian way that auctioneers seem to have. Agents are so used to negotiating, they don't seem to understand that an auction sets the terms and conditions before any offers are accepted.
That said, we all work for our sellers. When we get that license, we tell everyone that we will work in their best interests. How is it in the sellers best interest, not to work with professionals that have devoted their careers to real estate?
The answer is greed and rationalization. We can rationalize anything. Here is a different perspective. I want your help, and I want to help you. Here is what an auction, properly marketed can offer. It offers the seller an end date, both when the property will sell, and when the property will close. The financing contingencies, inspection contingencies, and the I gotta sell my house contingency is gone. Additionally, an auction is the only selling method known, where a price much higher than the "listing price" can be attained, with the exception of very hot markets. Truth be told, those markets produce auctions by professionals that don't typically know that an auction is what they just conducted, as they just accepted offers. In fact, I am currently involved in that type of scenario in Columbus right now
For an agent, this is all positive as well, for you have an idea when you will be paid. I honestly believe, that if an agent is treated fairly, that we can work together in the best interests of our clients, whether they be buyers or sellers.
Thanks for reading,
Shawn J Dostie, Agent, Auctioneer, CAI
Ben Schafer Realty