We are wanting to sell in Christchurch and had an appraisal by Harcourts who sell 42% of homes in Christchurch. They recommend selling at auction which we have never done before. We will be getting another 1 or 2 appraisals done. Is auction the best method? I've never sold or bought at auction before. Our house is a 3 bedroom summerhill stone, 1960's house in an average area as far as ChCh is concerned and have always thought auctions were for more expensive houses. Have you sold at auction and ever regretted it?

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 14:46:00

Lots of properties are getting passed in at auction now as the market cools. Remember the winner only has to bid $1 more than the second highest bidder to win the property and even less if there is no competition. Buy at Auction... Sell at Tender. I heard a Christchurch auctioneer on the radio the other week saying he would never sell his own home at Auction.

superdave0_13 - 2021-05-22 14:56:00

Thanks superdave, will see if I can find auction results to see the numbers being passed in.

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 15:27:00

Is the market cooling? Here in Christchurch I read in the Press the other day they don't expect house prices to cool at all in the near future.

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 15:32:00

catdog68 wrote:

Thanks superdave, will see if I can find auction results to see the numbers being passed in.

Just google Harcourts auction results Christchurch every house sold or passed in is there

didee - 2021-05-22 15:41:00

I have done that didee but they have no prices with them. Maybe I'm missing the right link!

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 16:05:00

catdog68 wrote:

We are wanting to sell in Christchurch and had an appraisal by Harcourts who sell 42% of homes in Christchurch. They recommend selling at auction which we have never done before. We will be getting another 1 or 2 appraisals done. Is auction the best method? I've never sold or bought at auction before. Our house is a 3 bedroom summerhill stone, 1960's house in an average area as far as ChCh is concerned and have always thought auctions were for more expensive houses. Have you sold at auction and ever regretted it?

Sellers can have remorse regardless of which method of sale they employed.

To answer your question, are you highly motivated to sell regardless of how much is offered?

johnston - 2021-05-22 16:24:00

catdog68 wrote:

I have done that didee but they have no prices with them. Maybe I'm missing the right link!

That’s correct why would you want the sale price as it has no relevance to your house,but the sold or passed in ratio is what I thought you wanted?your house is only worth what the person on the day is willing to pay at auction

didee - 2021-05-22 16:31:00

johnston wrote:

Sellers can have remorse regardless of which method of sale they employed.

To answer your question, are you highly motivated to sell regardless of how much is offered?

Yes we are highly motivated to sell but do have a price in mind we won't sell below.

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 16:45:00

didee wrote:

That’s correct why would you want the sale price as it has no relevance to your house,but the sold or passed in ratio is what I thought you wanted?your house is only worth what the person on the day is willing to pay at auction

I was wanting the sale price so I could see what houses similar to mine have sold for recently, although the appraisal we had done has done that already.

catdog68 - 2021-05-22 16:47:00

catdog68 wrote:

Thanks superdave, will see if I can find auction results to see the numbers being passed in.

You should be able to watch the auctions live on FB. You see when a house gets passed in, sold and even when a vendor gets taken out in to a back room and told to lower their reserve.

superdave0_13 - 2021-05-22 20:32:00

Don't bother with an auction. Truly. You'll just end up paying for a "marketing package" that's totally unnecessary. Opt for a deadline sale method and don't be suckered into paying a cent towards marketing.

I'd only ever sell at auction if I needed to do so urgently, and unconditionally.

Auctions can eliminate a number of buyers who could very well pay more but who can't bid unconditionally and who could easily satisfy the conditions of a sales and purchase agreement such as finance, LIM etc.

Deadline sales have been very effective for me as a vendor selling a number of properties, the biggest difference in offered price being $57k with better conditions.

This is all my personal opinion based on my experience. The market does appear to be cooling here in Christchurch (I base that purely on fewer cars at Open Days) but if you've priced realistically then you should still be fine.

seaqueen - 2021-05-22 20:45:00

(Declaring that I work in real estate in Christchurch)
Auctions are selling under the hammer in Christchurch at a rate I have never experienced. Every price range and style of house is performing well. The company I work for has 91% clearance rate over the year to date under the hammer, (6% sold after, 3% unsold).
As a side note to an above comment, when an auction goes out of the room it doesn’t always mean the vendor is being asked to drop the reserve. There are some far more positive reasons this happens.

Not every house or vendor situation suits auction, but at the moment it should at least be a discussion you have with your chosen salesperson.
Don’t just settle for auction because it’s what “everyone’s doing”, look at the pros and cons of different methods and how they suit you, your situation, your house, and your location.
All the best.

Edited by paysanne at 8:55 pm, Sat 22 May

paysanne - 2021-05-22 20:51:00

paysanne wrote:

(Declaring that I work in real estate in Christchurch)
Auctions are selling under the hammer in Christchurch at a rate I have never experienced. Every price range and style of house is performing well. The company I work for has 91% clearance rate over the year to date under the hammer, (6% sold after, 3% unsold).
As a side note to an above comment, when an auction goes out of the room it doesn’t always mean the vendor is being asked to drop the reserve. There are some far more positive reasons this happens.

Not every house or vendor situation suits auction, but at the moment it should at least be a discussion you have with your chosen salesperson.
Don’t just settle for auction because it’s what “everyone’s doing”, look at the pros and cons of different methods and how they suit you, your situation, your house, and your location.
All the best.

Just shows you what I know!

seaqueen - 2021-05-22 22:51:00

seaqueen wrote:

Just shows you what I know!

You know what worked for you in the past, and would more than likely work just as well now.

Edited by paysanne at 11:04 pm, Sat 22 May

paysanne - 2021-05-22 23:04:00

paysanne wrote:

You know what worked for you in the past, and would more than likely work just as well now.

You see my point about auctions though? Say I fell in love with a property and decided I'd pay $700k for it, and when I went to bid at auction the bidding stopped at $650k - why would I pay more than $651k? It benefits me, not the vendor.

Whereas in a deadline sale, since I have no idea what other people are offering, I'd put in my top dollar of $700k.

seaqueen - 2021-05-23 11:05:00

seaqueen wrote:

You see my point about auctions though? Say I fell in love with a property and decided I'd pay $700k for it, and when I went to bid at auction the bidding stopped at $650k - why would I pay more than $651k? It benefits me, not the vendor.

Whereas in a deadline sale, since I have no idea what other people are offering, I'd put in my top dollar of $700k.

Exactly.

Auctions are only successful if they entrap people in spending more than they would rationally offer in any other situation. Whilst I guess makes them morally reprehensible, I guess.

sparkychap - 2021-05-23 11:26:00

catdog68 wrote:

We are wanting to sell in Christchurch and had an appraisal by Harcourts who sell 42% of homes in Christchurch.

At that point I would ignore everything else said by them. Either the person saying 42% believes what they are saying so are stupid, or they are lying. Either way their credibility is blown.

tony9 - 2021-05-23 11:30:00

tony9 wrote:

At that point I would ignore everything else said by them. Either the person saying 42% believes what they are saying so are stupid, or they are lying. Either way their credibility is blown.

Further, McDonald's sells a lot of burgers in Christchurch but it doesn't mean they are the best burgers or you should patronise them. The only sale the op should be interested in is their own.

I would ask the agent why they recommended an auction. If they could not adequately explain why I would look for another agent from another agency.

johnston - 2021-05-23 11:53:00

seaqueen wrote:

You see my point about auctions though? Say I fell in love with a property and decided I'd pay $700k for it, and when I went to bid at auction the bidding stopped at $650k - why would I pay more than $651k? It benefits me, not the vendor.

Whereas in a deadline sale, since I have no idea what other people are offering, I'd put in my top dollar of $700k.

I absolutely see your point.
I don’t think auction should be used as the “default” method of sale. I think there are too many factors to consider to rely on one method. I think all options need to be discussed and understood before a decision is ever made. Horses for courses.

paysanne - 2021-05-23 12:26:00

johnston wrote:

Further, McDonald's sells a lot of burgers in Christchurch but it doesn't mean they are the best burgers or you should patronise them. The only sale the op should be interested in is their own.

I would ask the agent why they recommended an auction. If they could not adequately explain why I would look for another agent from another agency.

Exactly! Having a reason for the recommendation is essential. That said, the reason shouldn’t be “it’s what we do and I get paid sooner”

paysanne - 2021-05-23 12:31:00

tony9 wrote:

At that point I would ignore everything else said by them. Either the person saying 42% believes what they are saying so are stupid, or they are lying. Either way their credibility is blown.

From memory, Harcourts refer to a successful auction sale even if the property sells well after the auction! So yeah, treat those figures with a grain of salt. They are likely to be exaggerated.

committed - 2021-05-23 12:37:00

paysanne wrote:

(Declaring that I work in real estate in Christchurch)
Auctions are selling under the hammer in Christchurch at a rate I have never experienced. Every price range and style of house is performing well. The company I work for has 91% clearance rate over the year to date under the hammer, (6% sold after, 3% unsold).
As a side note to an above comment, when an auction goes out of the room it doesn’t always mean the vendor is being asked to drop the reserve. There are some far more positive reasons this happens.

Not every house or vendor situation suits auction, but at the moment it should at least be a discussion you have with your chosen salesperson.
Don’t just settle for auction because it’s what “everyone’s doing”, look at the pros and cons of different methods and how they suit you, your situation, your house, and your location.
All the best.

They may be selling under the hammer but is the seller getting the best possible price?

committed - 2021-05-23 12:39:00

committed wrote:

From memory, Harcourts refer to a successful auction sale even if the property sells well after the auction! So yeah, treat those figures with a grain of salt. They are likely to be exaggerated.

This 42% in the original post refers to the market share in Christchurch. Harcourts state they sell 42% of the properties sold in Christchurch I believe.

paysanne - 2021-05-23 12:41:00

committed wrote:

They may be selling under the hammer but is the seller getting the best possible price?

Not being smart, but no one will ever know. You can only sell one way, so will never know “what if”.
I’m not advocating for 1 or the other method, I believe every house/vendor/situation is different and all need to be considered before choosing a sale method.

paysanne - 2021-05-23 12:44:00

For me, always sell under the hammer, you set your reserve, only the auctioneer knows it, the reserve is your figure that you set based on yr gut and the market feedback.

Bang and its done, deposit paid within 10 minutes.

kenw1 - 2021-05-23 12:48:00

paysanne wrote:

This 42% in the original post refers to the market share in Christchurch. Harcourts state they sell 42% of the properties sold in Christchurch I believe.

There are 1082 residential properties in Christchurch City listed on TM. 59 show with Harcourts in the listing.

Ray White shows 72.

tony9 - 2021-05-23 13:52:00

tony9 wrote:

There are 1082 residential properties in Christchurch City listed on TM. 59 show with Harcourts in the listing.

Ray White shows 72.

And yet Harcourts own website has 368 and Ray White's has 194.

I suspect the franchise simply doesn't use TM by default and charges their vendors more for a listing there.

sparkychap - 2021-05-23 14:29:00

kenw1 wrote:

For me, always sell under the hammer, you set your reserve, only the auctioneer knows it, the reserve is your figure that you set based on yr gut and the market feedback.

Bang and its done, deposit paid within 10 minutes.

Really, 10 minutes later?

smallwoods - 2021-05-23 14:38:00

sparkychap wrote:

And yet Harcourts own website has 368 and Ray White's has 194.

I suspect the franchise simply doesn't use TM by default and charges their vendors more for a listing there.

They do.

apollo11 - 2021-05-23 17:18:00

smallwoods wrote:

Really, 10 minutes later?

Yep, they went out the back of the auction and did a bank transfer there and then, sale completed asap.

kenw1 - 2021-05-23 17:30:00

I have seen people on here advise for potential buyers to get a house inspection done on properties they are interested in before buying. Great if most sales are by auction and they need to get ongoing inspections at several hundred dollars a time, just to be outbid. I saw one guy on TV saying he had bid at something like 29 auctions and had not been successful yet. If he had got inspections on all those he would have spent around $15000 so far.

rpvr - 2021-05-24 08:27:00

kenw1 wrote:

Yep, they went out the back of the auction and did a bank transfer there and then, sale completed asap.

I think you are getting things mixed up!
Sale completed?

smallwoods - 2021-05-24 08:51:00

seaqueen wrote:

Don't bother with an auction. Truly. You'll just end up paying for a "marketing package" that's totally unnecessary. Opt for a deadline sale method and don't be suckered into paying a cent towards marketing.

I'd only ever sell at auction if I needed to do so urgently, and unconditionally.

Auctions can eliminate a number of buyers who could very well pay more but who can't bid unconditionally and who could easily satisfy the conditions of a sales and purchase agreement such as finance, LIM etc.

Deadline sales have been very effective for me as a vendor selling a number of properties, the biggest difference in offered price being $57k with better conditions.

This is all my personal opinion based on my experience. The market does appear to be cooling here in Christchurch (I base that purely on fewer cars at Open Days) but if you've priced realistically then you should still be fine.

Sometimes potential buyers will seek pre-arrangment for conditions should their bid at auction be successful, however if I were a vendor, I would of expected any serious potential buyer to have their finance sorted and all due dillegence done eg LIM reports etc. So a scenario may be that the potential buyer wishes to settle earlier, or they wish to offer a smaller deposit, or they may even wish to settle later BUT there is evidence that the funds will be available, not that they are hoping/waiting for their own sale to do unconditional ..............

Edited by brouser3 at 9:19 am, Mon 24 May

brouser3 - 2021-05-24 09:15:00

smallwoods wrote:

I think you are getting things mixed up!
Sale completed?

Why wouldn't it be???? If the vendor is willing to settle there and then, and the buyer is also willing what is to prevent it.

brouser3 - 2021-05-24 09:21:00

brouser3 wrote:

Why wouldn't it be???? If the vendor is willing to settle there and then, and the buyer is also willing what is to prevent it.

it’s not settled.

sparkychap - 2021-05-24 09:27:00

brouser3 wrote:

Why wouldn't it be???? If the vendor is willing to settle there and then, and the buyer is also willing what is to prevent it.

First they were paying the deposit within 10 minutes, now completing the sale, which would be settling, which wasn't the first post.
My reference was that, you don't "have to" pay a deposit while in the auction house, I've done it days later.

Even "not" paid a deposit at all, completed sale was on settlement day.

Edited by smallwoods at 9:35 am, Mon 24 May

smallwoods - 2021-05-24 09:34:00

brouser3 wrote:

Sometimes potential buyers will seek pre-arrangment for conditions should their bid at auction be successful, however if I were a vendor, I would of expected any serious potential buyer to have their finance sorted and all due dillegence done eg LIM reports etc. So a scenario may be that the potential buyer wishes to settle earlier, or they wish to offer a smaller deposit, or they may even wish to settle later BUT there is evidence that the funds will be available, not that they are hoping/waiting for their own sale to do unconditional ..............

Not sure what point you're trying to make, but all of those things ^^ are enough to put anyone off buying at auction, especially where doing those things involves expense.

Edited by sparkychap at 9:50 am, Mon 24 May

sparkychap - 2021-05-24 09:36:00

Seaqueen, I asked the agent this question. His answer was that they advertise the property as going to auction unless sold prior. So a buyer can put in an offer, if we are happy with it we can accept it, or accept it with the provision that at auction if we get a higher offer we will take the higher offer.

seaqueen wrote:

You see my point about auctions though? Say I fell in love with a property and decided I'd pay $700k for it, and when I went to bid at auction the bidding stopped at $650k - why would I pay more than $651k? It benefits me, not the vendor.

Whereas in a deadline sale, since I have no idea what other people are offering, I'd put in my top dollar of $700k.

catdog68 - 2021-05-24 10:09:00

Johnston, Harcourts recommended an auction for a number of reasons, the main one being we will have buyers bidding against each other and in the auction process where say 2 buyers want the property, they often will bid higher to get the property. Also, he said Harcourts do extensive pre-auction marketing which reaches a bigger audience and they have their own auctioneers who are experts and can get that little bit extra out of buyers.

johnston wrote:

Further, McDonald's sells a lot of burgers in Christchurch but it doesn't mean they are the best burgers or you should patronise them. The only sale the op should be interested in is their own.

I would ask the agent why they recommended an auction. If they could not adequately explain why I would look for another agent from another agency.

catdog68 - 2021-05-24 10:13:00

Harcourts charge $2459 for their marketing package which includes the auctioneer's fees. Trademe Website base listing is $69 and a feature listing is $199, so we pay for both. realestate.co.nz is $99. They also charge $199 for digital marketing (facebook). Of course I know we can choose what we want in our marketing.

sparkychap wrote:

And yet Harcourts own website has 368 and Ray White's has 194.

I suspect the franchise simply doesn't use TM by default and charges their vendors more for a listing there.

catdog68 - 2021-05-24 10:18:00

I, as a buyer, do not bother with auctions due to the likelihood of thousands of wasted pre-auction costs

Edited by loose.unit8 at 10:25 am, Mon 24 May

loose.unit8 - 2021-05-24 10:21:00

I see a lot passed in at auction and then marketed for sale. My question is has the owner had to pay auction fees even if the property didn’t sell?

Edited cos of a typo

Edited by lovelurking at 10:52 am, Mon 24 May

lovelurking - 2021-05-24 10:51:00

lovelurking wrote:

I see a lot passed in at auction and then marketed for sale. My question is has the owner had to pay auction fees even if the property didn’t sell?

Edited cos of a typo

Yes and then another marketing campaign to let everyone know it didn't sell at auction and is still on the market....

sparkychap - 2021-05-24 11:21:00

sparkychap wrote:

Yes and then another marketing campaign to let everyone know it didn't sell at auction and is still on the market....

So that would be enough in itself to put me off auctions...

lovelurking - 2021-05-24 11:30:00

sparkychap wrote:

Not sure what point you're trying to make, but all of those things ^^ are enough to put anyone off buying at auction, especially where doing those things involves expense.

Well I guess that is where some people who are prepared to take 'risk' either by purchasing without doing their due diligence or by doing their due diligence and being aware that there may be a more attractive bid to the vendor on the day. And I am sure most real investors do their homework, and have a predetermined view on where their limits lie, not get caught up in 'auction fever' like some of the wanna be's/hope to be's do.

Edited by brouser3 at 11:40 am, Mon 24 May

brouser3 - 2021-05-24 11:35:00

sparkychap wrote:

Yes and then another marketing campaign to let everyone know it didn't sell at auction and is still on the market....

Yeah - the whole thing is a wrought by the RE companies to get as much out of the vendor as possible. It is really hard work looking for properties - contacting each 'exclusive' agent and then timetabling property visits. It's nearly as hard as trying to find a job. Instead of doing all their FB promo's they would be better off communicating with other agents and working deals with them on commission sharing.

brouser3 - 2021-05-24 11:47:00

This message was deleted.

hooserat - 2021-05-24 12:18:00

sparkychap wrote:

Yes and then another marketing campaign to let everyone know it didn't sell at auction and is still on the market....

Codswallop

superdave0_13 - 2021-05-24 12:28:00

Auctions can benefit the seller. They can sometimes benefit the buyer. They ALWAYS benefit the agent.

apollo11 - 2021-05-24 12:36:00