What are these Realtors doing at a Foreclosure Auction? would have been the question being asked by the regular Auction Hunters at the downtown courthouse last week if they had known we were there. Realtor’s and Auctions rarely collide for one simple reason – commissions (or lack thereof).
This day was no different than any other at the courthouse steps. It was not even June, yet, and the temperatures were already necessitating Arizona summer attire. The informality of this process was accentuated by bidders sporting baseball caps, tank tops and flip flops. Transactions – that for most would be among the largest of their lives – were being done at breakneck speed. Homes ranged in price from under $100K to nearly $1million. They all sold in mere minutes.
Auction at Sonoran Foothills in Phoenix
An hour into the auction, the address of our client’s future home was called. Our associate, Brad, served as the proxy bidder in this transaction. The opening bid was called out at $240,000. Within less than a minute, the price had been bid up to $320,000, which separated the men from the boys. Only one other bidder stood between our clients and their new house. Bidding slowed to increments of $500 at a time, as the price slowly inched up to $325,000. We knew that the price could not go much higher, but it continued to rise. Bids increased by $100 now. Like watching water boil, the price crawled up to $330,000…and continued to climb. The only two remaining bidders whispered frantically into their Bluetooth headsets, urging their clients to increase their bids. Three minutes seemed like 3 hours, but we finally were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the auctioneer shouted “going once, going twice, sold!”.
Our client had emerged victoriously! Although they paid more than they hoped to, they still got a great deal…and their dream home in the Sonoran Foothills.
For a minute, let me put my Realtor cap back on. For most home buyers, the auctions are not a good way to go. First of all, you have to pay cash – which eliminates most of us from this conversation. Second, you are not allowed to see inside the home prior to purchasing it. Third, the sale is “as is, where is”. If you find a foundation crack or some other major defect after the sale, it’s your problem now. For these reasons, I do not advise most clients to go this route.
However, I tell this story because it is one of many examples of how the Bodeen Wilford Group of HomeSmart International strives to go the extra mile for our clients…even if it sometimes means taking a hit in our commissions. We treat our clients like gold because we understand that if we do right by our clients, then they will spread the word about us.
