You have conducted the auction at the Caulfield Cup Calcutta in an exemplary fashion for many years. You extract a pool of approx. $40,000 with very entertaining remarks and accurate auctioneering. In the opinion of most people at the Calcutta you are the finest auctioneer we have ever heard and there are many real estate and country people who attend the auction.
A J Blakeley
Former Calcutta Convenor, Royal South Yarra Tennis Club
We were delighted with the result of the auction! Your expertise in encouraging a more dollars for each item ensured that maximum price was paid for many of the items on sale.
Malcolm Gough
Former Chairperson, Mazda Foundation
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…
