When your most important asset is about to go under the auctioneer’s gavel, there would be something wrong if you weren’t just a little nervous.
But you can limit your anxiety by making sure you and your agent have covered off all the elements of marketing and pre-sales activity that are within your control.
There’s an adage in sales – “plan your work, work your plan”, which reflects faith in process and doing it right.
You can no more control how many buyers will be at your auction than the ultimate the selling price. But if your marketing has been on point, then you’re anxiety should be eased by knowing you and your agent have done best job possible.
On the eve of the auction, you should discuss with your agent the key elements of the auction strategy. This should include reconfirming the reserve price, the anticipated number of bidders, the level at which the auctioneer will start bidding and the increments he’ll accept.
Remember, you have one vendor bid in your locker, so have your agent reconfirm it’s at the appropriate level and when it will be used.
Here are six more pointers to douse your nerves on auction day:
- Sell before you buy – There’s probably no greater stress in property than needing to reach a price so you can afford the new home you’ve already purchased. You may be confident in your current property’s value, but markets can turn south quickly. If that happens, it’s a nightmare. Don’t do it to yourself. Sell first.
- Understand your local market – Knowing the value of your property is essential, but you should also consider buying trends in the local area. Work with your agent so you know what’s a fair and reasonable expectation on auction day.
- Presentation is imperative – This is so true on auction day. Prospective buyers will again walk-through the property, or even see it for the first time. And their experience will be the one they’ll remember when bidding. If your property is looking fantastic on the big day, you know there’s nothing more you could do.
- Hope for the best, plan for the worst – Don’t bank on bidders having a money fight over your property. It happens but not always. Form a contingency plan for a scenario in which the property fails to reach the reserve. Know your negotiation strategy and bottom line based on data that tells you what is a reasonable market price. Also, consider what you might do if the property doesn’t sell. Could you rent it out while you move into your new home? No idea is a bad idea when making a contingency plan.
- Be flexible – Even with a contingency plan, being flexible is perhaps the hardest of all tasks. If the property has been passed in, it can still be hard to let go of your target price. Your agent will be doing their best to push prospective buyers higher, but you may need to face reality: the market has spoken, and it’s not saying anything you want to hear. So, let the agent do their job, work the various negotiation angles, including price, settlement times and so on. Ask yourself how you’ll be feeling if the property is still on the market in two weeks or even two months.
- Remember, you don’t have to sell – A few sellers can forget this and get caught up in the drama of the moment. While it’s not the end of the world if you walk away and reassess your situation, it does mean you can’t move on. You’ll have to weigh that up carefully.
- And when you do sell – Let your agent deal with the paperwork. Don’t loiter around the buyers, no matter how happy you might be with the result. Let the contract process and deposit payment take place, and celebrate once the buyers have left the property.
