'Australian-first' isolation auctions clear with 100% success rate

INNOVATION was at the very heart of 'Australia’s first' isolation auctions last night as Ray White Castle Hill sold three properties from three with a combined value of $4,045,000.

Everything from the auctioneer, to the technician and the scribe, and from the agents to the bidders, was carried out remotely, as the campaigns generated 22 registered bidders on the night.

Ray White NSW Auctioneer James Kerley (pictured above) said it was a brave new world to deliver auctions that were both remote and 100 per cent in isolation.

“What we’ve been able to do is completely humanize technology to the point where vendors and bidders can be face-to-face with our agents and auctioneer – much like you would have from a traditional in-room or on-site auction,” Mr Kerley said.

“Our new online auction system provides a professional green screen or camera feed and can be streamed in so many different ways that essentially brings the auction into people’s homes – and from the feedback we’ve received – the process is certainly working.

“Ray White has seen a lot of things in 118 years and this is certainly new territory, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the fundamentals of auctions, we're still very much the competition creators and social proof is very much alive in our new digital environment.

“To be able to see vendors with tears of joy in their eyes on-screen, even in the midst of the adversity we’re currently facing, makes all of our jobs exceptionally rewarding.”

The undoubted highlight of the night was the $1,310,000 sale of 69 Chepstow Drive (pictured above), a property managed by Ray White Castle Hill Sales Executive John Grima, that sold after just a five-day campaign.

“We listed the property on Friday – and subsequently the vendors had purchased elsewhere – so we brought the auction forward to facilitate their purchase,” Mr Grima said.

“Across Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we held more than 20 single-person private inspections and the property ended up selling over the vendor’s expectations.

“We ran a full marketing campaign, contacted our database as normal and used the innovative Be Seen platform, which helped generate a number of extra enquiries.

“We actually had more than 100 enquiries throughout, and I have to say the virtual tour was a real stand-out, many of the private inspectors said this in particular helped them distinguish whether it was worth visiting the property or not.”

The other sales on the night saw 41 Darcey Road (pictured above) in Castle Hill sell for $1,465,000 and the hammer fell on 4 Briana Court (pictured below) in Kellyville for $1,270,000

Ray White Castle Hill Director Philip Kelly said his team had embraced a different way of working and the average number of registered bidders were actually higher than their usual in-room.

“It’s fair to say there’s a real appetite for this way of auctioning properties and we’ve seen bidders really embrace the move to online auctions – being able to stay in the comfort of your own home and bid and buy is really appealing to our buyers,” Mr Kelly said.

“The other appeal is that the entire process can be carried out remotely and once the auction is over, the exchange of contracts is done digitally and right away, providing security to both the vendor and the buyer.

“We actually sat down a few weeks ago and strategized that our normal in-room process wouldn't continue for much longer, and that gave us time to really outline a remote plan of action.

“What we’ve seen is 19 bidders on the night miss out, which tells us there are plenty of buyers out there who are finance-ready to buy, and are actively bidding to buy right now.

“People who are in a position to buy don’t want to risk what may be around the corner tomorrow, people know where they stand today, so I have to say there's no better time to be putting your house on the market to make use of this pool of active buyers.”