Forty years ago, this week I walked to work for the first time having left school with A Levels. At the end of my first week in an extremely busy Estate Agents office, I remember hoping that in 6 months’ time I might have learnt enough to know what was going on!
All this time on, and spending nearly all my years as an Auctioneer, it is obvious how technology has driven the changes in our industry and make it able to run at such rapid speed
The Principal of Auctions is the same now as 40, or more, years ago. Property which is well priced will find good interest and a professional and accessible marketing campaign will allow people to engage and bid competitively
The change to wholly Online Auctions over the last 16 months has been the greatest revelation that I could have imagined. At the last Auction, over the 2 days of bidding we received 45,000 visits to our website from 23 different countries! In the last two online Auctions we have sold £45million worth of property in various shapes, sizes and values
The online process has opened up potential demand for our Clients from bidders further afield than I could have imagined even 2 years ago and a level of participation which is almost impossible to recreate in our Ballroom Auctions
Looking back, working life has certainly changed in the last 4 decades!
The Office was far noisier, especially on a Monday morning with the clatter of the typewriters upstairs banging out the sales letters for all the properties which had been sold over the weekend
The majority of my colleagues smoked……at their own desks!!
You had to be at your desk to take a phone call, and you better not need to get to the filing cabinets if your desk wasn’t next to them while you were on the call!
A day of appointments needed planning on the evening before with an AA Roadmap and A-Z Streetmap. You needed to know where the red telephone boxes were in case you needed to call the office (don’t forget the change) and if you were late for an appointment you best hope that your potential Client would wait for you because no one had mobile phones!
All letters and reports were posted (with a stamp on them) and the pile of mail in the morning might take an hour to open. I do remember receiving entry fees in cash in the envelope with the signed Agency Agreement (please don’t do that now…AML and all that!)
Today, we run 8 Auctions a year as opposed to 4 all that time ago. Each Catalogue is put together in double quick time and always look fabulous with a selection of great Lots
So, if you have read this and have visited our website for the latest Auction selection, thank you
I hope that you have found some properties of interest and you are making arrangements to bid on 28th July
Our website provides access to so much information which you need to be able to bid. Most importantly the Legal Packs for all the properties are free to download and if any amendments or updates are received, then we can email you to advise you
Many bidders like the internal video views which we make available. Again, more accessible in the first instance than driving 40 miles to take a first look!
I hope you can enjoy the summer months ahead and do not hesitate o contact us if you need our help.
John Stockey
Director and Auctioneer
About the Author:
Sam Kinloch
Sam’s career in the dizzy world of property auctions began when he hung up his chainsaw and headed in from the forest. Joining the team in 2003 Sam now sits on the Board of Directors and has been instrumental in the adoption of online auction services. Out of the office you can find him flying around the velodrome or sipping coffee at a local café.