The Benefits of Working with an Auction House for Estate Agents

Are you looking to work with an auctioneer to sell a property quickly?

We understand that whilst private treaty sales are normal for many property types, as an estate agent, you may decide that an alternative method of sale is in your client’s best interest. But what are the benefits for you as an estate agent?

Sellers often assume that listing a property with an estate agent is the only available means by which to sell their land or property.

However, this may not always be the soundest route, auctioneers and agents are bound by the requirements of the Estate Agency Act 1979 to provide clients with advice taking into consideration all methods of sale to market a property.

In some cases, estate agents regularly partner with established and reputable property auctioneers with a track record of successful sales and an extensive database of engaged and registered bidders from all areas of the property market. These include owner-occupiers, investors, developers, business owners and many more.

Clive Emson Auctioneers looks at how we work with estate agents, how a relationship may be beneficial for you and why it can be a suitable solution for properties that may otherwise take longer or are hard to know the market value of however by auction with a wider database these can find their true value on the auction day.

Advantages Available to Estate Agents acting jointly with Auctioneers

There are multiple reasons a collaboration with an auction house can be beneficial to all parties, not least easing the workload of busy and high-demand agents who recognise that a particular property may not be aligned with the local buyer demographic or maybe tricky to sell for a number of other reasons.

Examples include unusual properties, such as converted pubs and windmills, homes in need of renovation or redevelopment, agricultural land, woodland or plots of land that have excellent potential for alternative uses. Here are some of the key benefits of working with an auctioneer:

1. Faster Sales and Commission Earnings

You’ll still earn a commission for your work but with an expedited time frame. This time frame means that most buyers already have funds in place and are required to pay a deposit of 10% on the day. The successful buyer normally completes in as little as 20 working days

What's more, the commissions are split on an equal 50/50 basis and are likely to be the same or higher than if you acted as a sole agent.

2. Lightening your workload

There would be a clear division of labour between an auctioneer and an estate agent. As Auctioneers are likely to handle many of the pre-auction enquiries, legalities of the sale as well as marketing and the auction itself, working jointly could greatly reduce the work required to achieve a sale, however you still have full contact and interaction with your client.

3. Increasing Property Marketing

By referring the property to an auctioneer, you can continue local marketing and expand your marketing reach to a wider pool of interested buyers through the auctioneers and secure the certainty of a sale.

4. Improving your local reputation

As a property professional, your experience helps sellers to assess the most suitable options. Where land or property with potential to add value or for redevelopment, investment or are unusual or unique in nature become available for sale you might recommend an auction as a preferable solution to sealed bids in an open and transparent forum. This can greatly increase the trust and reputation you have with your client base.

We work with 650 joint agents across the South of England to help their buyers and sellers achieve the best possible price for their property? If you’re interested in becoming a joint agent, get in touch with us today here.

When would you recommend working with an auctioneer?

As we’ve seen, there are lots of reasons that you might suggest an auction is the most suitable option for your client, based on your knowledge of local property sale prices and the types of properties. The most common scenarios when selling a property via auction are as follows:

The property is ideal for developers, DIY enthusiasts or investors who regularly participate in property auctions due to their speed and transparency.
Where the client needs to sell the property quickly, perhaps to buy another home, release funds from an investment, or conclude a probate sale or property sale following a separation. Your client may have had a buyer pull out of the sale, affecting the onward chain. We can help you to source a new buyer very quickly.
Circumstances where you believe the property will take longer to sell through a private treaty sale, or where you think that the buyer audience at an auction will be more likely to achieve a successful sale.

How would we work together?

Agents working with Clive Emson Auctioneers can refer the property to the auctioneer to manage most aspects of the sale, or to act as your client’s agent, communicating with the auctioneer.

Here is our typical process:

You contact the auctioneer with a potential lot that may be suitable for auction.

The auctioneer would visit and inspect the property and provide a full auction appraisal.

We would enter into a formal agreement with you and the seller which confirms the marketing terms and the confirmation of our 50/50 commission split of the sale price.
We would market the property via our extensive network
You would carry out any viewings and open days/field enquiries on behalf our the client or if preferred we can help with our own full time viewing staff.
During the process however you keep contact with the client to help build future dealings
We can handle the auction process from start to finish. You can read more about how the auction process works here.

We believe that working together is very much a win-win-win situation for the following reasons:

First and foremost, sellers are able to keep their onward purchase and also benefit from a quick sale.
Estate agents can achieve a sale quickly, with potentially higher commissions and boost their reputation with sellers.
As an auction house, we can form a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship with our joint agents.
We do not tie our joint agents into restrictive arrangements, we work with you on a lot by lot basis
At the end, the agent retains the client along with any follow-on business.

Did you know that we work with 650 joint agents across the South of England to help their buyers and sellers achieve the best possible price for their property? If you’re interested in becoming a joint agent, get in touch with us today here.