I recently received the following e-mail as a referral from another full time real estate auctioneer outside our area and is a member of this board (there is no nicer way to say thank you than a chceck!)

              We have 4 acres of very desirable land in frankford de. It is 4 driving miles from the totem poll in bethany beach and less than a mile from bear trappe dunes golf course. We had it listed with two different realestate brokers and have been trying to sell on our own for a year now. It is wooded and nicely secluded, it has been perked lpp and soil eval done with no deed restrictions.  We have had to put our plans on hold until the ground sells, what can you do that the realestate agents could not do. Frustrated on 4 acres.

How would you answer?

This potential seller only sent an e-mail with no contact information meaning this is the one chance to get them to follow up.

I sent the following reply:

Dear Frustrated on 4 acres:  

I was forwarded your e-mail by our affiliate Rob McArtor because we are located on the Eastern Shore and know the market here.  

The question you asked " what can you do that real estate agents could not do" is my favorite question because comparing my services offered by one of only 281 Accredited Auctioneers of Real Estate in the USA against one of 1.5 million realtors is not really fair to your real estate agent, they simply are not capable of delivering what we offer.  

Here is a direct comparison between a realtor and auctioneer marketing the same property:  

We can deliver the 'present cash market value' for any property in about 6 weeks with no seller commission.  

That's right we can deliver you an all cash no contingency as-is 30-day closing buyer for your property in about six-weeks with no seller commission.  

There are only two times that a property does not sell at auction:  

The first is when one owes more than a property is worth.  

The second is when one is greedy and wants more than a property is worth.  

Other than those two situations we sell 100% of the property we offer at auction and as one of only 281 A.A.R.E. auctioneers market your property in a manner that 99.9% of real estate professionals simply are not capable of.  

Here is a comparison of our professional real estate auctioneer service offering compared to those of your realtor.   A realtor can certainly sell the property for you and even though the market has been down there are still a substantial number of sales taking place but remember; all realtor sales are contingent upon or subject to any number of items on the 32 to 54 pages of a Standard board of realtors purchase contract which allows a buyer to tie up your property for up to 120 days and back out at the last minute with no penalty.

The main advantages of the auction method of selling are:

You have complete control of the process from start to finish.

You have a record of every person who inquired about the property and inspected the property.

You know the exact date the property will be sold, then settled.

You know in advance how much the process will cost you $3,495.00 for our basic auction services with the buyer paying our commission, the closing costs, escrow, title & recording fees. (advance fees are usually rebated at closing)

The MLS is only for realtors and the general public is not given the information on it other than a few small pictures of the property and a big picture of the agents face.

Auctioneers provide all of the information a realtor provides AFTER the sale BEFORE the auction so the buyer can make an informed decision and create a bid strategy.

Here is a little comparison of what we are currently offered a real estate seller who moved out of state, had the property listed with a realtor for 3-months with no results

Internet bidding: http://auction.reauction.com/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=399

eBay bidding: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200066378671

E-mail sent to over 300,000 opt-in subscribers: http://nationalauctionlist.com/featured/REauction5/

110 page digital Bidder Information Package (BIP): http://www.reauction.com/bip/?f=drennan

FAQ's in Take one Box: http://www.reauction.com/salepics/drennan/FAQs.pdf

Not to mention the 2-sided 4' X 8' color sign outside the gates to the community: http://www.reauction.com/salepics/drennan/6011.JPG with a take one box right behind it plus about a dozen "bandit signs" near major intersections on the local commutes nearby.

The $3,495.00 budget allowed us to produce a professional 30-second TV Spot: http://www.nationalauctionlist.com/video.php that ran over 250 times on local cable.

We sent a broadcast fax to the 427 local / regional realtors to make sure they know about earning 3% as a buyers agent with 2 positive responses' meaning bidders who were represented at the auction by a realtor.

The auction event was posted to the National Auctioneers Association auction calendar which "spiders" out to hundreds of auction and real estate related websites: http://auctions.auctioneers.org/auctionDetail.php?ID=124120

Plus it is listed on the Maryland State Auctioneers Association website and the California State Auctioneers Association website since we are members of both.

There have been over 20,000 "recorded" page views (not hits) from the various websites we are able to track.

286 BIP Downloads from people who had to give their contact information and have all been contacted as a follow up.

14 registered parties who previewed the property on the two inspections with the last inspection on auction day.

2 people referred to the lender to become pre-qualified for a mortgage to bid on auction day

Over 100 e-mail inquiries about the auction event for this property.

75 telephone inquiries about the auction event for this property.

I don't want to forget that we placed several 1/4 page newspaper ads in community newspapers, but newspaper advertising simply does not get results. ( are real waste of money on those face ad pages)

We had one bidder from South Carolina and inquiries from people in 7 different states interested in purchasing in this area.

Still with all of this targeted marketing we still get 4 to 7 registered bidders (or bidding groups) who are pre-qualified with a $25,000.00 cashiers check that turns into a non-refundable deposit to the winning bidder who will sign a simple 2-page contract at the close of the auction.

There is now a $350,000.00 all cash no contingency 30-day closing contract on the table and we are holding a non-refundable deposit that is split with the seller if the buyer defaults or does not close.

The property is sold in AS-IS condition with the only contingency being the seller will deliver a free and clear title by deed at closing about 30-days after the auction.

Its not really fair to compare what we offer because there are close to 1.5 million realtors in the marketplace who were responsible for selling about 5 million properties in 2006.

When you compare that to less than 6,000 NAA Auctioneers who sold just north of 1 million properties in 2006 just guess who can get the job done for you.

As one of only 281 Accredited Auctioneers of Real Estate (A.A.R.E.) in the USA the level of service offered by my company simply higher than 99.99% of the real estate professionals in the marketplace are capable of offering.

Please let me know when you are ready to have us deliver the "present cash market value" for the property in a hassle (contingency) free transaction with no seller commission or want to discuss how to get started.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service.

Sincerely,

Billy Burke, CAI - AARE

Auctioneer

Direct line: 410-957-4786

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How would you have answered this question?

If you are a real estate agent would you want to send referrals anywhere in the USA to someone who can deliver a higher level of service than 99.9% of the 2-million plus real estate professionals in the marketplace?