Home > Blogs > Linda Mardi > Real Estate Auctions

"Sell your home in 5 days" by Bill Effros

By Linda Mardi

Services for Real Estate Pros with AuctionFirst

August 24, 2006 02:20 PM

This book is basically a FSBO approach to the auction concept. The homeowners follow a process outlined in Bill Effors book where they sell their home to the highest bidder in a round robin. http://www.5-day.com/. The book and method were recently featured on CNN's "Open House". Many of the 'market conditions' concepts in the book I agree with. Big difference between the 5 day FSBO round robin and a professional real estate auction - other than experience, processes, etc - is that the 5 day approach is non-binding.

It's worth a look for real estate professionals to read this book. Keep in mind that in many states, real estate agents cannot participate in an auction unless they are licensed by the state as an auctioneer.

Is anyone seeing these For Sale By Owner round robins taking place in their markets? They are usually advertised in the paper as "We are selling our house Sunday night to the highest offer above $X"

Cheers,
Linda, AuctionFirst

Comments(2)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Aaron Lewis

RealtyLab - Modesto, CA

Tested. Proven.

Linda,

You seem to be the only person I'm aware of in the ActiveRain network that has referenced this book. I am in the process of reading it right now and giving it some serious thought for some of my listings. I haven't seen it occur before--not in my area anyway--but it seems like a very compelling concept (though I don't care for his distaste of REALTORS).

My question would be how does the agent navigate this type of process along with the home being listed in the MLS at the same time. How do you deal with buyers coming through the buyer's agent?

Any feedback/ideas?

May 31, 2007 09:47 AM

Linda Mardi

AuctionFirst - Austin, TX

Hi Aaron, Good questions. I'll add some more for you:

- what are your state's license laws for being a professional and being part of an auction? Does the state require an auctioneers license? An auction company license too?

I like the book - the concepts are right on - and often times its THOSE concepts that typical sellers just don't get. Keep in mind that the book is truly a For-Sale-By-Owner DIY. Many many ways to execute a real estate auction. This book walks you, the owner, thru specific steps. There are other authors who have expanded on the theories and come up with modified versions.

There are also agents that do this with / without their clients - I'm not surprised because as I said before the concepts are all right on! However as a real estate professional, my guidance to you would be to get more formal understanding/education about real estate auctions. There are other books published on the market, and there are plenty of real estate auctioneers that would be happy to explain the processes to you. Some use the MLS and some don't.

The MLS system is IMPERFECT for auctions. Main reason - auctions do NOT list a price! auctions start at zero and go up to the market value depending on how much the buyers think the property's worth. MLS requires the seller to put a price tag on it first; could be too high/too low - either way has consequences.

Feel free to call me for more discussions.
Linda Mardi,
AuctionFirst.com

Jun 04, 2007 12:34 AM

"Sell your home in 5 days" by Bill Effros

Comments(2)

Linda Mardi

Recent Posts

Additional Information