Auctions are commonly associated with distressed properties, but Foxtons have discovered a great usefulness in auctions for buying and selling London's exceptional homes fast.
When you hear “property auctions”, do you hear the theme song for Homes under the Hammer? Since Foxtons have entered the world of property auctions two years ago, working with the revolutionary online auction site – BidX1, we have discovered this space has so much more potential than just flipping houses.
Through auctions, we can offer another route to our regular sellers and buyers who need a quicker timeline. Foxtons auctions have helped Londoners fulfil their property aspirations with everything from beautiful, detached family homes in Surrey to expansive lateral apartments in Chelsea.
Our Operations Director/Auctions Manager said, “Auctions have completely shifted into a motivated seller category. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a studio for £100,000 or if it’s a luxury flat for over £2 million. If the ambition is right, it works for auctions. It’s a completely different marketing strategy for our motivated clients to achieve the results they need.”
Fleur Marston, the Sales Manager at our Earls Court office, has found an influx in sellers calling into her office who want to try auctions, "Honestly it's been so exciting...we've just sold another one a couple weeks ago and brought a few more on."
The "motivated seller"
With auctions last year, we always achieved above the marketed price, 8% on average. Right now, it takes our Auction sellers an average of 74 days to exchange (updated March 2024). For a property sale, less than 2 months is lightning fast. It's ideal for those who are motivated - maybe by a pending house purchase or new job - but don't want to sacrifice on price. For example, Fleur recently sent a seller to our auction team because, "He had retired back to Spain and he had a deadline by which he had to sell this flat and go into Spanish citizenship for Capital Gains tax." She added, "There was [a seller] a couple of weeks ago, he'd decided he wanted a quick sale so we didn't even put it on the conventional market, we just went straight to auction."
Looking out for Londoners
We are leading the way, as a real estate agency in hybrid auctions, because we encourage our sellers and our buyers, as opposed to professional auction clientele, to claim the benefits of property auctions. Alex Isidro said, “We’ve had first-time buyers buy at auctions, we’ve had people who have just sold [and are] looking to upsize – anybody and everybody can be successful at auction.”
Compared with traditional auctions, hybrid auctions have a higher likelihood of sale. One reason is that, with modern auctions, the buyers know exactly what they’re bidding on. The vendor puts together an Auction Pack – searches, leases, a property information form for things like disputes, work undertaken, general questions etc. – everything a buyer may need to know about a property is completely visible, along with previous bids, guide price and reserve price.
We have a large database of buyers, and our auction process is education – giving our buyers the information they need to decide whether to join, explaining how it works and setting them up in the best proceedable position. Maybe our buyers haven't considered auctions before, but by the time they participate, they're completely prepared. Our goal in making online auctions more accessible is to give our customers the tools to speed up their transactions. So far, it’s working spectacularly; Joe Darnell, Foxtons Operations Director and Auction Manager, noted that ~90% of the properties we sell at auctions sell prior to the auction itself.
If you're interested in speeding up your property transaction, take a look at our properties up for auction on BidX1 and get in touch with our team.
Or click here if you're still wondering about the sales process and thinking "how else do I sell my house quickly."
