“My association with Phil goes back many years and he has been a significant influence in my auctioneering career. This is just one of the reason’s why Phil is the coach of all our auctioneers at McGrath!”
Scott Kennedy – Green
Partner & Chief Auctioneer, McGrath Estate Agents, Dual NSW & 2006 Australasian Auctioneer Champion
Phil, you must take a great deal of the credit for all the compliments we have received. The auction made more than reserve on every item and I have heard nothing but praise for you ‘expertise’. Everyone at the function has said that the Gala was the ‘best yet’ and are already looking forward to next year.
Alison Robertson
Former Chief Executive Officer, Life Education Australia
The Real Estate Market and COVID-19
Friday, 20 March 2020
The current state of the real estate market is very good, even with the downturn in the stock market and the uncertainty of the COVID-19. Auction clearance rates are very good especially in Melbourne and Sydney. In fact clearance rates, in all but two states and territories are tracking at 70% or above, (Source REA). People are still wanting to buy and people are still wanting to sell. There is, however, some hesitation about how this can be done and that is only natural given the situation.
A global economic prediction given in a podcast only yesterday, from Escala’s Chief Investment Officer, Tracey McNaughton, is that we are in a reasonable position and the world will get through this but there will be challenges along the way.
I have always been a big believer in the traditional auction process and I still am. Whatever happens at this time, we need to show leadership and confidence to navigate the way through.
To do this agents need to consider:
- Providing a safe environment – Having sensible processes in place to protect; sellers, buyers, tenants, agents and of course the community as a whole.
- Create momentum – All campaigns thrive on momentum and this is enhanced through transparent activity. If there is no engagement from the market, the agent needs to act accordingly. Not just sit and hope.
- Maintain control – agents need to be connected and ensure their campaigns are ‘on track’. The agent, not technology or any other means, needs to be in complete control of their campaigns and deliver more bidders at the end. i.e. Talk to more people not less.
Over the past 35 years I used seen and used a great deal of auction technology.
Openn Negotiation is a great tool that assists agents to provide these considerations above. As a product / method, I believe it is superior to private sale / treaty or Expressions of Interest. I sincerely hope that we will not be shut down and prevented from performing public auctions but if we are shut down, the Openn Negotiation platform could be a viable option. In any case, it’s worth further investigation.
Stay well and take care. Phil de Fégely…
