Tuesday, August 22, 2006

What's the buzz about real estate auction in Indianapolis


When you ask people about real estate auctions, what do they see in their mind's eye?

Up until the last couple of years, I would see John and Bertie Smith in the driveway between their house and barn with several of their closest neighbors around, a representative from the bank and an auctioneer. That's right, they couldn't keep up with their payments and the bank foreclosed...forcing them to sell their lifelong home and most of their belongings. What a bleak picture indeed.

About a year ago, I was approached by an auctioneer to build his website. When I thought 'auctioneer', I saw an old fella standing on a crate in the middle of John and Bertie's yard doing the 'auctioneer chant' to sell the antique family roll-top desk while Bertie stood there with tears running down her cheeks and being comforted by her best friend Maude from up the road. But, this is the 21st Century and times have changed for the auction business. As opposed to being a 'bail-out' proposition to a bad financial situation, now real estate auctions are becoming the selling method of choice for some home owners. According to the National Auctioneers Association (NAA), real estate auctions have seen continued growth over the past few years as more people have turned to auction to sell their real estate.

Why the change from traditional real estate? Well, one of the benefits of a real estate auction is a time-defined closing. A time-defined closing is simply that a seller knows for a fact that they will close on the property with the buyer within 'X' number of days after the winning auction bid is accepted. Since the seller has set the date of the auction, they can close the deal and walk away with a check at a time of their choosing....something rarely seen in a traditional real estate listing. According to the NAA, "Baby boomers today, and in coming years, are inheriting vacant land, homes and commercial properties at a greater rate than ever in the past, and many of these owners are choosing auctions as the way to effectively sell those properties."

Now some people start thinking that a property sold at auction will not fetch the same price as a traditional real estate sale. While there are several factors to consider, the price brought by a property at auction is generally the price that the local market will bear for the property. There are also times where the auction generates such excitement that the bidders surpass the seller's expectations offering a higher than anticipated price for the property.

If you would like to learn more about Real Estate Auction, Please visit our Real Estate Auction Site at www.BrokerAuctionTeam.com.