What do Auctioneers do?

A

ali

Registered User
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Not being smart but a genuine question. I am currently selling my house. I put it up on DAFT and got very little response. After a couple of weeks, I got an agent who talked the talk. A couple of viewings, no communication back and now apparently this morning an offer from a viewing on Saturday which I only know about because I rang him to ask how Saturday went.

I know there are probably better agents but that's not really my question. It's: Do auctioneers just stick it up on myhome.ie and wait for a call? Is there any proactive work at all? I know there are showings etc. (which incidentally, I would have no problem doing myself and would do quite confidently) but apart from that, do they do anything other than wait for a call? If that's the case then I can pay him 2% or another agent 1% and get the same result.

If I had access to myhome.ie I would just pull the plug and do it myself.

A.
 
ali said:
Do auctioneers just stick it up on myhome.ie and wait for a call?
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Do they not put up For Sale signs? And do they not advertise it in their windows so people can see it when they pass by or call in? (mind you thats largely redundant now with the internet).

Re myhome.ie - can you not advertise it there yourself or is it only estate agents who can put homes up there?
 
No myhome.ie is restricted to EA's for sales. It seems to be the major selling tool. I have ditched my agent.

A.
 
they can suggest your house when they get a call regarding a certain budget or house type. If a client looks at a house and doesn't like it the agent can suggest a look at yours. If you can see no reason to having one then go it alone, and if you decide to enlist someone to help with the largest transaction of your life, then put some bit of research into who you are actually going to go with.
 
ali said:
No myhome.ie is restricted to EA's for sales. It seems to be the major selling tool. I have ditched my agent.

A.
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Thats crazy!! I cant believe they dont allow private individuals to advertise there. Just use daft. Most people check both.
 
MrMan said:
they can suggest your house when they get a call regarding a certain budget or house type. If a client looks at a house and doesn't like it the agent can suggest a look at yours. If you can see no reason to having one then go it alone, and if you decide to enlist someone to help with the largest transaction of your life, then put some bit of research into who you are actually going to go with.
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I guess that's all true but it also confirms what I thought. There is nothing proactive involved. They basically wait for a call and then can possibly direct the potential purchaser. I do see a reason for having one. I can't access myhome.ie and this seems to be the largest vehicle for sales in the country.

As I said, I had an ad on daft that wasn't yielding results so I brought in an agent. I actually interviewed 3 agents and unfortunately the one I picked didn't measure up. He was the most expensive but he came accross as very dynamic and clued in. In reality I had to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes on the ads and he was brutal about keeping in contact or me informed.

I don't doubt there are excellent agents but as most buyer research is done online through myhome or daft, as far as I can see the agent may as well be in Kerry or Cuba as they advertise and just wait to be contacted.

A.
 
truthseeker said:
Thats crazy!! I cant believe they dont allow private individuals to advertise there. Just use daft. Most people check both.
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I don't know why but I didn't get the level of response from my daft ad. One of the agents I interviewed said daft is very much secondary to myhome.ie. He said he can put an ad on daft and get 700 hits but only 3 emails. Whereas myhome seems to yield much better results.

I have changed agent now (to Sherry Fitz) and hopefully they will be better. I don't think the price is wrong and I have already reduced it once by 50k but in this market who knows?

A.
 
ali said:
I don't know why but I didn't get the level of response from my daft ad. One of the agents I interviewed said daft is very much secondary to myhome.ie. He said he can put an ad on daft and get 700 hits but only 3 emails. Whereas myhome seems to yield much better results.
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I think, and I could be wrong, that people feel 'safer' with myhome because they are dealing with a company, ie. an estate agents. Whereas when dealing with a private individual there is possibly less comeback?

I do know someone who sold privately using Daft only - but it was before the market crash.
 
ali said:
I guess that's all true but it also confirms what I thought. There is nothing proactive involved. They basically wait for a call and then can possibly direct the potential purchaser. I do see a reason for having one. I can't access myhome.ie and this seems to be the largest vehicle for sales in the country.

As I said, I had an ad on daft that wasn't yielding results so I brought in an agent. I actually interviewed 3 agents and unfortunately the one I picked didn't measure up. He was the most expensive but he came accross as very dynamic and clued in. In reality I had to correct spelling and grammatical mistakes on the ads and he was brutal about keeping in contact or me informed.

I don't doubt there are excellent agents but as most buyer research is done online through myhome or daft, as far as I can see the agent may as well be in Kerry or Cuba as they advertise and just wait to be contacted.

A.
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Estates won't do cold calling as it wouldn't make sense, but they will call those on their database. When you say proactive what are you expecting from your agent? I wouldn't choose an agent by his website as you are usually looking at the work of admin staff. You need to meet and draw up a list of questions. Ask them to bring what they would bring if they were showing a property to a client and you'll get a feel for what they are like with people. Also with regard to this not calling thing, say it outright that if you are not informed after viewings nom matter how poorly it has gone that you will change agents, you're the boss..
 
Also with regard to this not calling thing said:
I have and I did.

I suppose the database thing could be helpful in that an agent could ring someone who is looking and say: " I've a great one just came on the market today" etc. etc. But in general I think the agent is probably just an intermediary in the process and would be better than most people at conducting viewings and negotiating. Not everyone would be confident at doing those things and as Truthseeker has said, some people prefer the buffer of a third party . I would however, be happy to conduct the whole thing if I could.

A.
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I've dealt with agents on both sides. i.e. Bought, Sold, Looking at Buying again.

From my experience, in North Dublin, they aren't in anyway proactive. It is very much a case of taking the details, measurements, pictures, doing up some floor plans, a blurb and putting it on myhome. Recent family and work colleague experiences have unearthed problems even at this stage. Generally relating to appealing attention to detail and complete inability to take a half decent picture. Pictures of a bed instead of room for instance. This is usually a sign to change agents straight away. If they've poor attention to detail here they'll have poor attention to the details of chasing up buyers and keeping in touch with you; it's just their nature. It's as much to do with the individual agent as to the agency.

Most agents have a database these days. If a new house comes up that meet my criteria I get an email with a brocure, for example. For some reason, ringing me to follow up seems to be a problem though. Myhome duplicates this now, as I can set up criteria for all houses there.

Despite various criticims I've seen posted here and elsewhere, working with an agent is still the best way I belive you can sell a house. You just need to fire a bad agent quickly.

It takes months at the moment though, not days or weeks. So be prepared to wait and adjust things as needed. Fix up items that are proving an obstacle for buyers. Lower price if needed. Really if it hasn't sold within 2-3 months then something is wrong, most likely with price.

Also, market is dead as a door nail at the moment. Whether it picks up for the traditional spring season remains to be seen.
 
robd said:
It takes months at the moment though, not days or weeks. So be prepared to wait and adjust things as needed. Fix up items that are proving an obstacle for buyers. Lower price if needed. Really if it hasn't sold within 2-3 months then something is wrong, most likely with price.

Also, market is dead as a door nail at the moment. Whether it picks up for the traditional spring season remains to be seen.
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I'm hearing the opposite; that agents are very busy, albeit with valuations and viewings and that sales are happening just not big prices being acheived. There seems to be different classes of sellers out there e.g. people in financial trouble trying to offload a house and people worried the market will deteriorate etc. as well as the likes of me who would just like to move having found "the house" .

A.
 
ali said:
I'm hearing the opposite; that agents are very busy, albeit with valuations and viewings and that sales are happening just not big prices being acheived. There seems to be different classes of sellers out there e.g. people in financial trouble trying to offload a house and people worried the market will deteriorate etc. as well as the likes of me who would just like to move having found "the house" .

A.
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EA's are eternally optimistic; like any sales person it's their job to be.

Most agencies have cut their staff to the bone. And as most viewings are on a Saturday morning at around the same time so they'll always be run off their feet at that time.

Best of luck with the sale.
 
ali said:
I'm hearing the opposite; that agents are very busy, albeit with valuations and viewings and that sales are happening just not big prices being acheived. There seems to be different classes of sellers out there e.g. people in financial trouble trying to offload a house and people worried the market will deteriorate etc. as well as the likes of me who would just like to move having found "the house" .

A.
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SIL works in an estate agents, she was made redundant from a previous one! She claims that as they are now operating with absolute minimum staff that they are kept reasonably busy with the different class of sellers you mention above, but that in terms of taking money in on commissioned sales - its way down.
 
truthseeker said:
SIL works in an estate agents, she was made redundant from a previous one! She claims that as they are now operating with absolute minimum staff that they are kept reasonably busy with the different class of sellers you mention above, but that in terms of taking money in on commissioned sales - its way down.
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That's interesting. In general, excluding my own useless one, I have found agents to be very straight; in saying prices are way down, sales taking months instead of a fortnight. There seems to be a lot less spoofing and waffle than the boom years. What I do hear is that a combination of this being the last year of full TRS and the removal of the stamp duty obstacle, is meaning that deals are being done if you are seen to offer value.

A.
 
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