The South African auction world picked up a ‘regrettable’ image in 2011 as a result of bogus cover bids and too close, often corruption relationships between liquidators, attorneys and others handling distressed sales.
The inclusion of estate agencies into the auction field has also greatly widened the net of those attending auctions.
This is according to Tony Clarke, Managing Director of the Rawson Property Group who says since then the auctioneers’ governing body has done a great deal to put matters right and there are now disciplines under which auctioneers operate, which are stricter and well applied.
The arrival on the scene of estate agency auction companies has also definitely helped to improve the sector’s image, he says.
The traditional forms of auction, says Clarke, i.e. those run by an independent auction house, have tended to concentrate on deceased estates, commercial and repossessed properties and the perception that the ordinary seller had, therefore, was that they had little to offer him.
With the arrival of estate agency auctioneers, all this has changed. The home seller can now first put his home up for sale by conventional means, but if these do not bring about the desired results they can then put the property up for auction.
The additional advantage to this is that auctioneering is a once-off exercise and does not involve the continual visiting from potential clients in conventional selling. Furthermore, if the group has a bond origination division, it can offer the successful bidder at the auction assistance in raising finance, he says.
Clarke says the inclusion of estate agencies into the auction field has also greatly widened the net of those attending auctions. More members of the general public, but particularly potential investors, are now regularly attending auctions and a fair amount of interest is now being shown by overseas buyers, generally working through a local proxy.
Print
