Sam Harris, area manager at Auction House South Yorkshire shares with unLTD why the high prices and ‘ideal doer upper’ lots make auction the ‘best route to sell your property at the best price possible in the shortest period of time’.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role…
I am the area manager for Auction House South Yorkshire and my role centres around the procurement of new business via various new business activities.
This includes performing appraisals for any potential auction lots, building relationships with clients, partner estate agents and personal introducers, while managing a small team and any other duties as required.
I’ve been within the property sector for more than a decade now and have really enjoyed getting my teeth into this role and being a figurehead for the South Yorkshire business and the phenomenal success we have experienced since the region was re-launched in 2019.
What is driving Auction House South Yorkshire as a route for buying and selling property in the region?
I believe vendors have become increasingly frustrated with the traditional private treaty route of sale, largely due to lengthy timescales and an often-frustrating conveyancing process!
These vendors have quite rightly realised selling their property quickly via auction, allowed them to still achieve the best price possible, as well as providing additional certainty and security. This is due to the buyer being required to immediately exchange contracts and pay a ten per cent deposit post auction, which minimises the risk of the sale not completing.
The number of buyers purchasing via auction is increasing substantially – probably due to the speed of purchase process – and, if they are successful on the day, have secured the property without being outbid.
What kinds of properties do best in an auction environment? And which don’t suit the environment quite so well?
Ahh – the age-old question as to what represents a ‘suitable’ auction property! In my experience, the vast majority are, and the most successful lots tend to be those ‘requiring improvement’ – the number of buyers interested in these has increased dramatically.
We are increasingly seeing first time buyers, novice property developers and new landlords bidding, alongside the more ‘traditional’ buyers that include builders and experienced developers.
This creates a very competitive bidding environment and ensures we achieve the best price for our vendors which can often match or even exceed their perceived market value.
Share your recent successes!
Our current success rate is over 95 per cent for our livestream auctions to date which is fantastic! Of our many recent success stories, my favourite is 32 Passhouses Road in Sheffield, as due to the owner’s circumstances, they needed to utilise the proceeds from the sale to fund care bills for a family member.
This meant I felt a personal responsibility to ensure the property achieved as much as possible at auction. The house was an ideal ‘doer upper’ and further benefited from recent investment such as a new roof and boiler as well as a convenient location in Pitsmoor. This ensured potential buyers could minimise improvement costs and instead spend money on the cosmetic work, rather than a full makeover (arguably the more enjoyable part of property development!)
We were proud to have achieved a final sale price of £83,000 for the vendor – more than doubling the guide price of £40,00-£50,000!
If someone is thinking of selling at auction, what are your top tips?
Contact us directly to discuss your options – auction is definitely the best route to sell your property at the best price possible in the shortest period of time!
