Sage Auction Blog

Real Estate Brokers don't make good Auctioneers

I've been approached by a number of real estate brokers over the years wanting to get involved in real estate auctions. Most simply want to do a few auctions when things get slow or to be able to say to clients that they can conduct auctions so they don't lose a sale to the local auctioneer.  A very, very small percentage ever make very good auctioneers.  Not because they can't learn how to chant, it really has very little to do with their ability to learn how to bid call. It has to do with the nature of their business model as compared to that of an auctioneer.  I've come to learn that it has nothing to do with their outlook on our business or whether they are good or bad people, it really doesn't have anything to do with that. It's just the differences in how brokers looks at a real estate transaction and how an auctioneer looks at a real estate transaction.  

BANKS MANAGE RISK ?

Everyone knows by now that we are in a housing “correction” to put it nicely. The price of homes has been in a free fall for the last twelve months (at least) and the market for new home construction is, well, ugly. The largest builder in Iowa closed its doors a few weeks ago and told its employees to go home. And it had over 200 homes in various stages of construction.

In a recent meeting I had with a senior banker he indicated that his bank did in fact have  foreclosure inventory on the books and would have more. But the Polk County Sheriff’s office was backed up four months due to the high volume of properties going to sheriff sales. WOW that is saying something especially for a conservative (financially) state like Iowa.

Numbers Only you say?

Download NumbersOnly.mp3

I've been in the auction business as an auctioneer for the last 17 years and involved in the industry for 26 years and teaching at an auction college for the last 5 years.

As a trained teacher (I have a BA in Secondary Ed, and a coaching lic.) I look at the skills necessary to become an auctioneer a little differently than a typical bid calling instructor. Over the years I've worked with a number of the very best auctioneers in the country. What I've learned from my experiences and my mentors is, if we get rid of all the minutia and cut right down to the quick, bid callings is all about communication. As bid callers or auctioneers (although there is a difference) we must gain rapport with a potential bidder, win their trust and convince them to bid on the item offered in a matter of seconds. If we are not communicating with that potential bidder in an effective and powerful way our efforts are lost and the potential bidder refuses to participate in the auction process.