Question for prospective auctioneers

A Chairde,

Am looking to help a friend sell property down the country. I want to contact some auctioneers by mail with some questions before I decide which one to use.

I am looking for some suggestions of questions relevant to selling a home.
Ideas I have are what implicit / explicit charges they levy, what services they provide, prospects of sale etc..

Any opinions on present questions / suggestions on new questions most welcome.

Ask them to breakdown their fees, what % of selling price do they charge and to list the extras. Some EAs will charge for the sign in your garden! Also check if they have an advertising budget - how much that will be. If they will put an advert on the web?

Finally you should ask if your friend takes the property off the market or gives the business to another EA, how much they will have to pay.

Just off the top of my head - hope it helps.

More important than fees at this point in the market, especialy if selling in rural areas or small towns, is the ability to find clients. An auctioeer who hasn't sold anything in the last six months should be avoided. Personally, I would pay extra to anyone who could offload properties down the country in the current market, rather than trying to save on fees and maybe be stuck with the property.

auto320 said:

More important than fees at this point in the market, especialy if selling in rural areas or small towns, is the ability to find clients. An auctioeer who hasn't sold anything in the last six months should be avoided. Personally, I would pay extra to anyone who could offload properties down the country in the current market, rather than trying to save on fees and maybe be stuck with the property.

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There is no automatic relationship between the level of fees and the likihood of the property being sold though. Shovelling an extra few thousand ( or ten ! ) to an auctioneer is no guarantee you will get a purchaser.

I'd agree with AUTO320 - finding one that you get on with and is selling at the moment is they key.
Regards the fees, there has to be a corollary between the % and the likelyhood of sale - after all, there's more in it for them too. In fairness though, in my experience, there's not a whole hell of a difference in costs across the board.
Talk to a few of them and if you get on with them and they know what they're talking about, that's a good start because you could be talking to them for a while.
Look for somebody that's been in the business a while, has a good team behind them and knows what a slower market is like - a lot of newer agents (4 - 5 years) have probably only experienced a sellers market and more likely don't have the same understanding as somebody that's been down this road before.
Hope this helps.

Agree that fees is not the primary issue. Ask them all to provide a list of recent sales of comparable properties in the area, and prices achieved.
Should help to weed out under achievers.