"There just aren't any buyers out there anymore." How many times have you heard that? If you been in this business more than a couple of weeks, you've probably heard it, or maybe even said it yourself. While it's true that in some areas of the country have slowed down a bit, there are still ways to sell properties quickly, EVEN IN A DOWN MARKET! Auctions are one of those ways. Let's look at how to get started with auctions and how real estate heavyweights can use them to attract buyers.
But if you aren't getting enough interested buyers now for the, say, $130,000 property you want to sell using normal FSBO ads and the like, how can you attract them to an auction? Several ways. First, when you advertise your auction, you don't put the full cost of the property. You should list the price at somewhere around 65% or less of the current value. Why? Because you need a strong turnout. If you list the full price you want, what motivation do people have to show up?
But can you really expect to get anywhere near what you want for the property if you start it at, say, $83,277 (a little under 65% of $130,000)? YES! People who have been to high turnout auctions, or even monitored EBay auctions over any period of time can tell you why. When you combine maximum exposure with a live, competitive bidding event, you get a supercharged environment where people's emotions, desires and competitive natures come to dominate. This formula assures that your price will be bid up as long as you make sure to have a strong turn out.
So how do you make sure you get a strong turnout? By implementing a good marketing plan, of course. Part of this plan should include ads in your major local papers, the smaller local papers, flyers and the like. But one of the cornerstones should always be SIGNS. In fact it is almost a guarantee that you will get more people to your auction with signs than with any other technique. These signs, between 50 and 100 of them, should be placed 3 to 4 days prior to the auction in a radius of approximately 5 miles around where the property is located.
These signs should not be just ‘directionals'. Your signs should always include more than just the address and date of the auction. If you can, a website address would be good to provide where potential buyers could read details on the property and see pictures. At minimum, a telephone number should be provided where they get additional info.
There is more that you need to learn in order to run successful auctions. But this information will give you a good place to start and help potential real estate heavyweights see the power auctions have to sell properties quickly.
This article is based a chapter of book Be a Real Estate Heavyweight, entitled Sell Your House In 8 Days by Chris Krimitsos & John Ybarra. For more information on the book, be sure to check out www.RealEstateHeavyweight.com.
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