Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Hub You - Auctions - Gold Coast Australia
Listing your goods on large online auctions sites can be an expensive way to sell your products. Also there is a lot of behind the scenes work for example: sourcing your products, emailing customers, packing, trips to the post office etc. You may find that a good percentage of your profits are being eaten up by the auction site fees alone.So why bother to list your items only to pay the big auction sites a high percentage of your profits? To be honest, the only thing that you are paying for is targeted traffic. By targeted traffic we mean web surfers that are actively searching for your product to purchase.So why not just create an online eCommerce store and pay for targeted traffic to reach it? Well, in my opinion most auction buyers believe that they are getting a fantastic bargain if they buy from an online auction site instead of buying from a regular eCommerce store.I recommend setting up both, your very own online eCommerce store and an online auction site. It may sound like a daunting task but to be honest it’s not so hard and now most hosting companies can install the scripts for you at no extra cost.I say setup both to filter customers from your auction site and/or other auctions sites to your eCommerce site rather than just relying on auctions to generate customers. If you have a large range of products then backing it up with an ecommerce store will create a much more professional looking business presence. Ideally you want to be in the situation where you have a good list of repeat buyers spreading the word about your eCommerce store.To purchase a domain name can cost less than $5 and one year hosting can start from as little as $20 a year. If you are really serious about being successful with your online business, then I recommend hiring a professional website developer.A professional web developer will create a great looking websit
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will
Procuring loans is not a bed of roses for a tenant. A tenant is usually surrounded by the issue of non-availability of security against a loan amount. Tenants every so often come across loan providers who lend money to homeowners exclusively. No credit check tenant loan can emerge as a savior of your current scenario.Besides tenants, homeowners and students as well can avail no credit check tenant loan. No credit check tenant loan can facilitate you with additional funds without pledging any security. Though the interest rates of no credit check tenant loan is comparatively high with a short loan term. Credit problems can knock your door any time. No credit check as the name implies, necessitates no credit check as required in a routine loan application approval procedure. It is undertaken by a prospective lender to authenticate your credit standing. A credit check engages seeking a thorough analysis from a credit reporting bureau or agency. Three of the top credit bureaus that embark on credit checks are Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian. These are recognized, commonly used sources for staging a credit check.Credit checks information generally contains date of birth, home address, employment history, present employer and income, and payment history for loans and other debts. Each time a credit check is done it devaluates your credit potential to borrow. No credit check tenant loan is an ideal solution for you as it can not cause further damage to your credit standing.You can possibly use no credit check tenant for purposes such as vacation, home improvements, purchase a car or boat, business purposes, debt consolidation or any other short term financial requirements.No credit check tenant loan is a value for time and money. With growing number of online loan providing organization you can pass over the tiresome and cumbersome loan process. It means no faxin
These practices relate to promotion and conducting Auctions.
The relevant legislation I will be referring to are;
PAMD Act
• Section 154 of the PAMD act specifies the Code of Conduct applicable to a real estate agency or agent.
• Section 231 of the PAMD act specifies the code of conduct applicable to Auctioneers.
• Section 593 of the PAMD act relates to false or misleading representations or statements.
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 7 – Honesty fairness and professionalism
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 9 – Agent to act in client’s best interest
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 14 – Fraudulent or misleading conduct
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 15 – High pressure tactics, harassment or unconscionable conduct
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 18 – Soliciting through false or misleading advertisements or communications
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 21 – Advice about market price or rent
• PAMD – Real Estate Agency Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 29 – Duty to obtain maximum sale price
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 7 – Honesty fairness and professionalism
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 9 – Auctioneer to act in client’s best interest
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 14 – Fraudulent or misleading conduct
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 15 – High pressure tactics, harassment or unconscionable conduct
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 18 – Soliciting through false or misleading advertisements or communications
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 22 – Advice about market price
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 31 – Duty to obtain maximum sale price
Trade Practices Act
• Part V – Consumer Protection of the Trade Practices Act
• Section 52 Misleading or Deceptive Conduct
• Section 53 False or Misleading representations
Auction - Definition
An auction is a form of sale where potential purchasers make competing offers or "bids", with the person offering the highest bid being declared as the purchaser.
Market Information – Gold Coast
Australian property monitors - Home Price Guide – (Owned by Fairfax which also owns property website Domain) publish auction clearance rates for every major city within Australia. The statistics that relate to adjusted auction clearance rates include properties sold prior to Auction by private treaty negotiation ( Including private treaty sales prior to an auction increases the actual auction success statistic and is misleading the market further about Auction success). Representatives of Australian property monitors attend auctions and contact marketing real estate agents to compile these statistics. They rely in part on real estate agents providing factual auction result information.
The published statistics for the Gold Coast are:
Jan 07 32.6% 49/150
Dec 06 25.0% 14/56
Nov 06 36.0% 45/125
Oct 06 33.1% 53/160
Sep 06 33.3% 38/114
Aug 06 37.5% 51/136
Jul 06 35.8% 47/131
Jun 06 32.0% 41/128
May 06 34.7% 42/121
Apr 06 36.3% 61/168
Mar 06 28.7% 42/146
Feb 06 28.1% 45/160
For a full year on the Gold Coast as quoted by Australian Property Monitors – Home Price Guide there were 1595 auctions and of those auctions 528 sold at auction or prior to auction. This gives an adjusted clearance rate for the full year of 33.1% (528/1595). The real impact of these statistics is to quote the auction failure rate at 66.9%. Just over 2 out of 3 auctions fail on the Gold Coast. (This clearance rate would also include mortgagee in possession auctions which typically sell below market price due to a lowered reserve price expectation)
The legislation
The legislation specifically points to the responsibilities of agents and auctioneers. These responsibilities make it a breach of the act to make false or misleading communications or statements and for the agent or auctioneer to not work in the best interests of the property owner. If an agency or agent promote that auctions are the best way to sell a property they would be in breach of the act based on the auction clearance rates on the Gold Coast unless they can clearly demonstrate why that particular property would be an exception. If an agent or auctioneer are aware of these clearance rates and cannot clearly demonstrate how a particular property would be an exception, then they are not working in the best interests of the property owner. Clearly 2 out of 3 auctions would require scrutiny.
Advice about Market Price
If the agent or auctioneer provide advice about market price, either orally or written they must be able to substantiate it. The suggestion that an auction would be the best way to determine the market price may be misleading particularly if the highest bid at auction, whether the property sells or is passed in, is significantly lower than the advice provided. Having a final vendor bid, that meets advice to market price will not substantiate that the process of an auction was in the property owners best interest or was the best way to achieve a maximum selling price.
Price Expectations
Under the act, an agent has a responsibility to advise a property owner if they believe their price expectations are too high or too low. In the case of too high expectations, agencies do not provide that honest advice, but rather suggest an auction as a process to condition that property owner to accept a lower price then their expectation. This is a dishonest & unconscionable approach that costs a property owner thousands of dollars in advertising monies to simply come to an awareness of a fair market price.
Duty to Obtain Maximum Selling Price
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will
A web site is a crucial ingredient of your marketing strategy because it can widen your target market to include anyone who has access to a computer and the internet. Almost 60% of Canadians had access to the internet at home in 2003, and around 8 million had regular access to the internet from somewhere, either at home, at work or at school.And that’s just in Canada. Ecommerce sales from Canada were $7.2 billion, and we only captured 4% of the global ecommerce market! So, how can you reach some of those internet surfers, and how can you capture some of that $7.2 billion spent in ecommerce?First, you build it The first step is designing your website. If your company already has business cards and letterhead, it’s best to design your website around them. A matching corporate identity and website helps with branding.I like uncomplicated websites, with a simple layout and easy navigation. A nice, simple layout, with good graphics, balanced look and good color combinations is my #1 goal when designing a small business web site. Remember to use graphics sparingly and to optimize them for your website because internet surfers are impatient. If your page loads too slowly, they’ll leave.Navigation should be easy to find and to use, and it should be consistent from page to page. I’ve left more than one site frustrated because I couldn’t easily find their navigation.Small business web sites aren’t static. They evolve. You need to start somewhere, and starting with an introductory web site is probably easiest. All you really need to start is five pages. You can always add pages later. The important thing is to just do it—take the plunge and get it out there.Your five pages could include an index, or home page, about us, services, contact and a sitemap. The index page is your landing page. Typically its design is a little mor
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 14 – Fraudulent or misleading conduct
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 15 – High pressure tactics, harassment or unconscionable conduct
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 18 – Soliciting through false or misleading advertisements or communications
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 22 – Advice about market price
• PAMD – Auctioneering Practice Code of Conduct – Schedule 31 – Duty to obtain maximum sale price
Trade Practices Act
• Part V – Consumer Protection of the Trade Practices Act
• Section 52 Misleading or Deceptive Conduct
• Section 53 False or Misleading representations
Auction - Definition
An auction is a form of sale where potential purchasers make competing offers or "bids", with the person offering the highest bid being declared as the purchaser.
Market Information – Gold Coast
Australian property monitors - Home Price Guide – (Owned by Fairfax which also owns property website Domain) publish auction clearance rates for every major city within Australia. The statistics that relate to adjusted auction clearance rates include properties sold prior to Auction by private treaty negotiation ( Including private treaty sales prior to an auction increases the actual auction success statistic and is misleading the market further about Auction success). Representatives of Australian property monitors attend auctions and contact marketing real estate agents to compile these statistics. They rely in part on real estate agents providing factual auction result information.
The published statistics for the Gold Coast are:
Jan 07 32.6% 49/150
Dec 06 25.0% 14/56
Nov 06 36.0% 45/125
Oct 06 33.1% 53/160
Sep 06 33.3% 38/114
Aug 06 37.5% 51/136
Jul 06 35.8% 47/131
Jun 06 32.0% 41/128
May 06 34.7% 42/121
Apr 06 36.3% 61/168
Mar 06 28.7% 42/146
Feb 06 28.1% 45/160
For a full year on the Gold Coast as quoted by Australian Property Monitors – Home Price Guide there were 1595 auctions and of those auctions 528 sold at auction or prior to auction. This gives an adjusted clearance rate for the full year of 33.1% (528/1595). The real impact of these statistics is to quote the auction failure rate at 66.9%. Just over 2 out of 3 auctions fail on the Gold Coast. (This clearance rate would also include mortgagee in possession auctions which typically sell below market price due to a lowered reserve price expectation)
The legislation
The legislation specifically points to the responsibilities of agents and auctioneers. These responsibilities make it a breach of the act to make false or misleading communications or statements and for the agent or auctioneer to not work in the best interests of the property owner. If an agency or agent promote that auctions are the best way to sell a property they would be in breach of the act based on the auction clearance rates on the Gold Coast unless they can clearly demonstrate why that particular property would be an exception. If an agent or auctioneer are aware of these clearance rates and cannot clearly demonstrate how a particular property would be an exception, then they are not working in the best interests of the property owner. Clearly 2 out of 3 auctions would require scrutiny.
Advice about Market Price
If the agent or auctioneer provide advice about market price, either orally or written they must be able to substantiate it. The suggestion that an auction would be the best way to determine the market price may be misleading particularly if the highest bid at auction, whether the property sells or is passed in, is significantly lower than the advice provided. Having a final vendor bid, that meets advice to market price will not substantiate that the process of an auction was in the property owners best interest or was the best way to achieve a maximum selling price.
Price Expectations
Under the act, an agent has a responsibility to advise a property owner if they believe their price expectations are too high or too low. In the case of too high expectations, agencies do not provide that honest advice, but rather suggest an auction as a process to condition that property owner to accept a lower price then their expectation. This is a dishonest & unconscionable approach that costs a property owner thousands of dollars in advertising monies to simply come to an awareness of a fair market price.
Duty to Obtain Maximum Selling Price
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will
Many people now are purchasing various forms of insurance policies and also enrolling in insurance plans. The fact that both people and property can be insured gives people the assurance that no matter what happens, their investments will not be just put to waste.What insurance plan is purchased is a decision that interested parties need to make. In order to assist people in making these decisions, there are online insurance quotes that provide people the chance to compare and contrast insurance plans and policies.What are Online Insurance Quotes?It is important that a person knows the insurance premium or the amount of money that he must pay when he purchases an insurance policy or insurance plan. The amount then gives him the chance to know if he has the capacity and capability to purchase one or not. The act of providing the amount and doing the computations on an insurance plan is referred to as an insurance quote, and when a quote is made available on the Internet, then this is what we call an online insurance quote.These online insurance quotes are very helpful to people who are planning to buy an insurance plan or policy. With insurance quotes, a person can contrast and compare insurance plans and policies before deciding. Thus, these online insurance quotes assist people in deciding what kind and which insurance plan or policy is the best buy for them.Are These Online Insurance Quotes Free of Charge?There are some websites that offer online insurance quotes free of charge. However, you may chance upon other websites that also offer online insurance quotes for a certain fee. This is mainly because these paid online insurance quotes provide more options compared to those offered for free. There are also some sites that provide a person insurance quotes from various insurance companies so that the person can better compare policies.
The published statistics for the Gold Coast are:
Jan 07 32.6% 49/150
Dec 06 25.0% 14/56
Nov 06 36.0% 45/125
Oct 06 33.1% 53/160
Sep 06 33.3% 38/114
Aug 06 37.5% 51/136
Jul 06 35.8% 47/131
Jun 06 32.0% 41/128
May 06 34.7% 42/121
Apr 06 36.3% 61/168
Mar 06 28.7% 42/146
Feb 06 28.1% 45/160
For a full year on the Gold Coast as quoted by Australian Property Monitors – Home Price Guide there were 1595 auctions and of those auctions 528 sold at auction or prior to auction. This gives an adjusted clearance rate for the full year of 33.1% (528/1595). The real impact of these statistics is to quote the auction failure rate at 66.9%. Just over 2 out of 3 auctions fail on the Gold Coast. (This clearance rate would also include mortgagee in possession auctions which typically sell below market price due to a lowered reserve price expectation)
The legislation
The legislation specifically points to the responsibilities of agents and auctioneers. These responsibilities make it a breach of the act to make false or misleading communications or statements and for the agent or auctioneer to not work in the best interests of the property owner. If an agency or agent promote that auctions are the best way to sell a property they would be in breach of the act based on the auction clearance rates on the Gold Coast unless they can clearly demonstrate why that particular property would be an exception. If an agent or auctioneer are aware of these clearance rates and cannot clearly demonstrate how a particular property would be an exception, then they are not working in the best interests of the property owner. Clearly 2 out of 3 auctions would require scrutiny.
Advice about Market Price
If the agent or auctioneer provide advice about market price, either orally or written they must be able to substantiate it. The suggestion that an auction would be the best way to determine the market price may be misleading particularly if the highest bid at auction, whether the property sells or is passed in, is significantly lower than the advice provided. Having a final vendor bid, that meets advice to market price will not substantiate that the process of an auction was in the property owners best interest or was the best way to achieve a maximum selling price.
Price Expectations
Under the act, an agent has a responsibility to advise a property owner if they believe their price expectations are too high or too low. In the case of too high expectations, agencies do not provide that honest advice, but rather suggest an auction as a process to condition that property owner to accept a lower price then their expectation. This is a dishonest & unconscionable approach that costs a property owner thousands of dollars in advertising monies to simply come to an awareness of a fair market price.
Duty to Obtain Maximum Selling Price
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will
In the online businesses the email marketing is some thing very important. In the recent past the internet has grown a lot. It has become the most important source of information for us now. Internet also now serves as the most important market and trading center for the people. In this situation it is important that you plan your marketing campaign properly. If the marketing campaigns are planned properly, your email marketing efforts will result in creating lots of money for you. These campaigns can be made more effective if you build the email lists properly. If you do that by your self, you will be in a better position to make money out of all this effort.Email marketing is the preferred type of online marketing these days. The sole reason behind this is that the email marketing campaigns take lesser time than any other means of marketing used by online marketers. This source generates results quickly. It generates results on a much faster pace provided the email list is made with care. If the email addresses on the list are not from the target market you are planning to invade, your email campaign will be very successful. If this is not the case the emails will not be able to generate lots of queries and replies. If the list is not build are fully most of the people may consider your email to be only a spam and do not take it seriously. If you want to make money from your email marketing, you need to be careful about the quality of your emailing list.
Advice about Market Price
If the agent or auctioneer provide advice about market price, either orally or written they must be able to substantiate it. The suggestion that an auction would be the best way to determine the market price may be misleading particularly if the highest bid at auction, whether the property sells or is passed in, is significantly lower than the advice provided. Having a final vendor bid, that meets advice to market price will not substantiate that the process of an auction was in the property owners best interest or was the best way to achieve a maximum selling price.
Price Expectations
Under the act, an agent has a responsibility to advise a property owner if they believe their price expectations are too high or too low. In the case of too high expectations, agencies do not provide that honest advice, but rather suggest an auction as a process to condition that property owner to accept a lower price then their expectation. This is a dishonest & unconscionable approach that costs a property owner thousands of dollars in advertising monies to simply come to an awareness of a fair market price.
Duty to Obtain Maximum Selling Price
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will
In the mobile oil change business there are two primary sectors to consider when determining market mix. For instance there is the personal car market, which handles the DFM “Do it For Me” as opposed to the DIY “Do it Yourself” car owner who changes their own oil. And there is the fleet oil change business and off road heavy equipment oil change business.Both are very different markets, but both are indeed viable for a mobile oil change company to consider. Specializing in only one, is potentially doable, yet consider that a company owner my want you to do his car and he has 5 service vans out back? Are you going to say “No” and perhaps lose that client; of course not.One successful mobile oil change business entrepreneur asks; “I have set up my business model to specialize on a much larger mix of retail customers and fewer fleet operations. My business also does auto detailing too.”I see this as good in that you also do auto detailing. But I see it as bad because economies of scale lower costs for oil and filters and fleet business lined up in a row 20-30 at a time is good revenue and you can do it at night in the dark on a second shift. Meaning that it does not affect your current business at all you see? Buy the van once run it 3-shifts, then buy another one. Fewer customers, more efficiency, more revenue, less headaches; perhaps you might consider all this in 2006.
The agent or auctioneer has a duty to obtain the maximum selling price. I don’t believe this is achievable on the Gold Coast for an auction when 2 out of 3 auctions fail. Additionally you have reservations from buyers who are well aware they do not have the same consumer protection or buying conditions at an auction. This reservation from buyers, to participate, particularly at a fair market price, results in a lack of competition at the auction from potential buyers. This situation compounds the inability for an agent or auctioneer to obtain maximum selling price.
Disadvantaged Consumer Protection
Auctions do not provide the same level of consumer protection. No cooling off period exists and there is no provision for conducting a satisfactory valuation or building inspection after purchasing at an auction, which is provided within the legislation for private treaty property sales. Buyers are well aware of this and avoid buying at auctions unless they believe the property is cheap – or the property is in a particularly high demand position.
High Pressure Tactics and Coercion
I have personally witnessed at many a Gold Coast auction, agents trying to influence a property owner to place their property “on the market” and to accept far lower bids for their property then the actual reserve price provided. This is pressure placed on a property owner to accept less, particularly because the property owner is only too aware they also spent considerable money on an advertising campaign that will potentially be wasted. The agent may in fact be recommending selling at a fair market price but if the price were significantly less than the original market price advice any property owner would feel reluctant to sell.
Evaluation of Results
I believe the office of fair trading has a duty of care to evaluate actual sale prices achieved at auction and compare them to the market price the property owner was provided by their real estate agent. Particularly if they were provided this price orally without any substantiating support documentation as is stipulated as a requirement on a 22a Form or with an attached CMA.
Auction Practice in Other Markets
Auctions appear far more successful in other markets in Australia. Melbourne averages 60% or above. Of the 7 major areas reported by Australian Property Monitors, the Gold Coast consistently reports the lowest clearance rates. Brisbane performs poorly as well with an adjusted clearance rate of 43.3% (621/1432) for the 6 months preceding and including January 2007.
Saturday 31st March 2007 – Gold Coast Bulletin
On this date, the following numbers of auctions were advertised in the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Agency No of Auctions No of Advertising Pages
Ray White 89 35
Professionals 24 6
LJ Hooker 26 4.25
Harcourts 13 3
Coldwell Banker 5 2
First National 5 0.5
PRD Nationwide 2 0.5
Raine & Horne 2 0.25
Elders 2 0.5
Wentworth 5 1
Independants 8 3.25
TOTALS 181 56.25
Average Page Cost $4,500 - Estimated Advertising Spend $253,125 - Average spend per auction/week $1,398.48 - Average weeks for auction ads 4 - Estimated Auction cost/property $5,593.92
Advertising costs vary depending on the purchasing power of the agency group advertising, but I have used a estimated $4500 per page. (Casual rates are in excess of $6000 per page) this equates to $253,000 being spent on advertisements each week on the Gold Coast for auctions. (Weekend 31st March is a average week with number of advertisements represented in the Gold Coast Bulletin.) Based on a success rate of only 33.1% for auctions, it means that over $169,000 is spent by property owners each week on the Gold Coast to advertise an auction that will fail. $169,000 every week! Based on 48 weeks for the year – that is over $8.1 Million dollars in property advertising for FAILED auctions. How can anyone say that this process is in the best interests of property owners?
Local Information from Property Owners
If you need information from property owners who can support the process of failed auctions on the Gold Coast please advise and I will supply specific information of people for you to contact, or I can simply create a process for them to lodge their complaint direct. This process will identify specific agents and agencies, and to be fair I would rather address the issue from a legislative process then create much attention to specific companies and individuals. This issue though needs serious attention, and I will go agent by agent if that is what it takes to provide a fairer system for property owners.
Section 594 of the PAMD Act – Public Warning Statements
Under the act the Minister or chief executive may make or issue a public statement identifying and giving warnings or information. It is in the public interest on the Gold Coast to be made aware of the failings of auctions on the Gold Coast. Too many people are being convinced to auction their property at significant cost, significant disillusionment and with a 67% statistical chance of failure.
Auctions are supposed to have no price indication
The web portals realestate.com.au and domain.com.au all require a price to be entered when advertising a property on their site. An agent can select not to display that price, but the website requires a price so that it can sort that property in search results. Agents typically place a far lower price in this section so the property appears in buyer searches at significantly lower values to try and improve enquiry. This is a form of bait advertising by stealth. The picture below is the property addition section of Domain. Realestate.com.au is similar. The red asterix indicates compulsory fields.
The ACCC has taken undertakings from Ray White in the past regarding bait advertising yet this process is continuing every day because these websites make it mandatory for Price to be entered when advertising a auction.
REIQ – Position of Influence
Obviously the Real Estate Institute of Queensland is in a position of influence when it comes to assessing legislative changes for the PAMD act. It should be noted that this industry group represent the wishes of its members – real estate agents and agencies. (I am also a member of the REIQ). The current chairman of the REIQ is Peter McGrath. Peter is also a senior manager for a Gold Coast based agency called HILLSEA which has 7 offices all on the Gold Coast. The position of this company is to not do auctions because they know they are not in the best interests of property owners. You have the chairman for the REIQ taking an ethical position when it comes to conducting real estate, yet it is not reflected in the REIQ position. I find this very illuminating.
My Recommendation for Advice to Market Price
Every residential property that is for sale must have a valuation provided by a independent licensed valuer. By providing this property valuation through an independent source both the property owner and the purchaser will have a secure knowledge of the market price (price range). This could eliminate much of the angst associated with real estate agent practices and provide a better level of consumer protection for all parties. Agents no longer have to
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.iadvice.info/article/131931/iadvice-Auctions--Gold-Coast-Australia.html">Auctions - Gold Coast Australia</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.iadvice.info/article/131931/iadvice-Auctions--Gold-Coast-Australia.html]Auctions - Gold Coast Australia[/url]
Related Articles:
9 Good Questions to Ask When Selling Your Practice
Purchasing Websites vs Building Your Own
The Lemon Motor Home - Lots of Misery, Damn Little Recreation
Bookmark it:
|