I have been really frustrated lately with the housing market. Our condo is still for sale (we may have a buyer though – fingers crossed!) So last month, in a fit of anxiety, I called my husband mid day and told him I just wanted to auction off our condo and be done with the whole thing, I had enough!
I called our local auctioneer and set up an appointment to meet and discuss our condo as a prospect. I had all kinds of questions; would we bring in a decent price, how long would it take, etc?! I had a lot of questions…..
Here is what I found – I thought the auctioneer we talked with was BRUTALLY HONEST and I appreciated it!
- People come to auctions with a set price in mind – the price is based off of comps and preconceived notions. If the comps in your market are bad – you are essentially not going to get your price.
- While the process might be "faster" – The property would have had a buyer that day – provided bidders showed up!
- The auction (in our case) would have been an absolute (there is no set reserve price) and we would have only brought in approx 65% of the property's value. (There are absolute auctions and auctions with reserves)
After meeting at the condo, our auctioneer thought we should just leave it on the market. He though out condo was really nice and that we were just a victim of a bad market – to continue listing it with our Realtor and something would happen. This ironically – was comforting.
Long story – auctions (as I have mentioned before) are great under the right circumstance. BUT – it really depends and even though our market is tough (I SWEAR) I have seen movement and action picking up out there. I hope (AND PRAY) that our prospect works out! Here is a link to our condo – just in case!
