Property sellers in South Africa now have more choice available than ever when it comes to selling their properties.

With the Private Treaty approach the advertising is paid for by the agent and the seller pays around 7,5% commission for the sale and with public auctions the seller is liable for payment of advertising and the buyer pays commission. Public tender is an approach where these two methods are combined and one that uses competitive bidding, which then sees the sale going to the highest bidder subject to confirmation within 48 hours.

William Campbell from Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty says the public tender method is best employed when an urgent sale is needed and is considered the fairest and fastest approach in the current property market. This approach employs a stringent set of guidelines and regulations.

"One such guideline is that the property must be new on the market and as this is one of the fastest methods of selling property, the seller must set a realistic reserve price. The reserve price remains secret and no agents are privy to the amount, although advice can be administered on general market conditions if asked by prospective buyers. It is important to note that with the public tender method, the seller is at liberty to withdraw the property at any time during the process."

"Once this reserve price has been met, instead of a run of Sunday show house and mid-week viewings, the seller chooses a specific date and time for all prospective buyers to view the property at once. On the selling date, sealed bids are placed in a special box during the tender period and when the final day arrives, the bids are opened and the seller either chooses the best offer or begins negotiating with select bidders. Only bids backed by bank-guaranteed cheques, cash or bonds are accepted, which thus knocks out all subject-to offers."

Statistics show that over 85% of all properties sold by public tender realise the seller's asking price and are sold more quickly than properties on the open market. In addition to this and in direct contrast to the traditional market, the buyer pays the commission and transfer duty in most cases.

"The advantage of selling by public tender is that the tender in itself creates hype within the market which in essence means this method generates its own word-of-mouth advertising which has proven to be the most effective and wide-spreading. As word spreads of a property being put up for public tender, buyers anticipate the preview whereas with a traditional private treaty sale, the process is inverted and vendors wait for buyers to view the house."

When selling property through the public tender method, the agents involved are present from the start through to the end sale of the property and are fully focused on the tender at all times in order to expedite a speedy, successful and hassle-free sale.

For more information contact William Campbell on 083 625 4444.

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