Which auctioneer to choose?

A

Art

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I am looking to sell my house in North Dublin and am in the process of engaging an auctioneer. I have had it valued by 3 different auctioneers already. Results are as follows

Property partners: Guide it at 600 should get 635 Rate of 0.5%
Sherry Fitz: Guide it at 655, should get 660 Rate of 0.85%
Small local auctioneer: Guide it at 650, should get 660 Rate of 0.75%

Just wondering which I should go for. I am concerned if I go for the guy with the lowest rate that he will not push hard enough for a high price. Then again he is the cheapest and I suppose ultimately the market will decide.

Can anybody please let me know their thoughts and also if they have had good/bad experiences with these or any other auctioneers in North Dublin. Unfortunately due to the nature of my job it is impossible for me to sell it myself.
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

Hi Art,

I'm interested in this too, I had 3 valuations done yesterday

HOK - €680 - should get €700... fee 1% inc advertising costs
Sherry Fitz €750...!!!... fee 1% + costs
Gunne €580 fee .75% + costs

Do any of them really know what they're talking about??
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

DNG have a reputation for holding out for a high price but they have very high fees. Mason have the opposite reputation.

I went with Lowe, who had fees in the 0.75% range.

Just make sure you are adamant before hand that you are willing to hold out for your price. What you set the asking price at is really only tactics. You can only get what the market will pay. I personally wouldn't set it too high but don't go too low either since people don't want to pay too much over what a property was guiding for.

Remember, the REA just wants to shift the property quickly and get his money. An extra €10k in the bank is big money for you but only an extra €100 or less in his pocket!
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

batty said:
Sherry Fitz €750...!!!... fee 1% + costs
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They may have unsold property in the same area and are worried about undercutting it?

I've noticed that Sherry Fitz in particular seem to be keen on pushing asking prices lately where they have other property for sale very close by.
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

Sherry Fitz €750...!!!... fee 1% + costs

They don't have any other houses in a 1 mile radius and its a very new estate so this is the first one to sell. I think they're anxious for the business and were trying to convince me that they could get the "best price". As room has pointed out the market will only pay what the market will pay,.
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

Might be an idea to offer them a sliding scale for payment of fees.
The more they sell your house for the more they get.
say for 680k offer x%
say for 700k and over offer y%
for 720k and over offer z%
and so on...............


d
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

Whatever about the price/fees charged, the most important thing, IMO, is the service they're going to provide.
E.G. house down the road from me went on sale using what must be the cheapest EA (franchise outfit). The sign went up 3 weeks ago and I still cannot find it on Myhome or even their own website. I finally found it on Daft (1 crappy picture. 1 line description) - they're not even 'updating' it to bump it up the list so at this stage it's way down the search. the road is a cul-de-sac so the only people who know this house is for sale are the neighbours!
You get what you pay for.

Also, a friend wanted to look at a house recently that had been on the market since last April but the EA said the only time he could show it was lunchtime on Thursday - when my friend explained he could only go to see it after work or weekends the EA refused! The vendor therefore lost a potential bidder - but as Room305 points out, an extra 10k for you isn't worth the hassle for the EA.
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

BigM said:
Whatever about the price/fees charged, the most important thing, IMO, is the service they're going to provide.
quote]

I agree with you 100% on this Big M. But how does one know what kind of service they provide? I think that's why I posted the question on this website.
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Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

BigM said:
Whatever about the price/fees charged, the most important thing, IMO, is the service they're going to provide.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, you want to be sure that when any potential purchaser calls that someone is always there to answer the phone and follow up etc.
We've called about quite a few houses during working hours and heard muffled messages from an answering machine...and they don't always call back.
 
What are the excat charges? The plus costs or not plus costs can change the nature of the fee entirely.

I am just putting my house on the market in the North of the city and I vetted a few potential agents as a dummy buyer when houses were for sale in the area.

I found Sherry Fitz a bit snobby and almost unfriendly to deal with.

I bought off DNG and swore I'd never deal with them again as they were very "don't gove a damn" - and a few months later I met the previous owner and they had not received a 6k deposit I had originally paid as a deposit to DNG - so they didn't seem to be satisfactory from a sellers or buyers perspective...

GWD were very friendly to deal with as a purchaser and when we contacted them to sell they were the most down to earth to deal with, so we have opted for them.
 
Art,

We had the same dillema as yourself. Now bear in mind that the ultimate sale price is what the market will bear. The ideal guide price should be one that gets as many people as possible viewing and bidding on your house. In our case we got 3 valuations:

Sherry Fitz: 470, Guide 460, Fee 1%
Baxter: 460, Guide 450, Fee 0.75%
Flynn: 465, Guide 440, Fee 0.75%

We went with Flynns and once bidding began we got to €470 in a week. By far the most important marketing tool is myhome.ie and ideally you want an EA who is responsive and won't piss off prospective buyers. One more thing to consider is what sort of a presence the EA has in the area - they are selling you prospective buyers, if they don't have these to my mind they're not worth dealling with.
 
Re: Whch auctioneer to choose?

Art said:
BigM said:
But how does one know what kind of service they provide? I think that's why I posted the question on this website.
Click to expand...
I've only ever dealt with SFitz - as a buyer - and they were very professional. Never had any trouble getting in to see the house, arranging for surveyor etc.
I find that the big names generally do a better job on the website/brochure side of things - HOK and SF invariably take brilliant photos.
Have any of them sold much in the area recently?
How many do they have on their books currently in the area? Some EAs have way too many properties per employee so they're really stretched and can't give the proper attention to each one (DNG spring to mind!!).
Click to expand...
 
Thanks a million for all of the replies folks. I have decided to go with Remax - met the agent at the house at 9pm the other night and grilled him for an hour. Am very happy with him and my decision. He is charging me 0.75%.
 
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