An innovative new auction approach has earnt a huge tick of approval from both buyers and sellers and is set to shake up the way the industry approaches older stock.
Ray White’s recent Apartment Collective, an initiative to rejuvenate older stock has been hugely successful, selling 12 properties with a combined value of over $6 million over the course of a week.
The Apartment Collective is a group-wide auction event across Australian and New Zealand Capital cities, gathering like-minded sellers and buyers who are all interested in high-density apartment living. The event occurred over a seven-day period and gave sellers the opportunity to gain exposure to a wide range of buyers.
The idea behind the collective approach was to help reinvigorate older listings that all had some commonalities. Ray White Network Performance Executive, Benjamin Burling was one of the key people behind the Collective initiative and said he was incredibly pleased with the event.
“After working with a small group of CBD based principals we identified an appetite for a collective approach to marketing and selling this particularly niche style of property. While these businesses are geographically distant, the style of listings and in-turn the clientele are very much alike, ” Mr Burling said.
“Selling apartments in CBD markets is very different to any other real estate transaction, there is a certain skillset required, a skillset that the agents involved have spent years developing and perfecting. The Ray White Group is the leader in auctions across this niche market in Australia and New Zealand, this event has been built to showcase this.”
The collective approach was incredibly successful at bringing buyers together from across the country and giving them access to a wide range of opportunities. Mr Burling believes that bringing in more potential buyers can only help to benefit vendors.
“The Ray White Group has a deep history in using the auction method successfully to sell property with exceptional results in markets where most agents fail. Vendors involved in this event can expect to attract buyers from across all CBD markets, gaining the advantage of Ray White Group strength in this style of market.
“Sellers in the Apartment Collective are sure to feel absolute assurance that come Auction day, their property will have been seen by the whole market and that they are getting the best result possible. Large in-room auction events are an exceptional way to draw a crowd and create competition amongst a range of active apartment buyers to help get the best outcome for our vendor in a large group auction atmosphere.
“With the support of the GAVL live streaming and bidding platform, our agents are able to engage with interstate and international bidders in real-time, making The Apartment Collective a genuine way to reach every buyer.”
For sellers, not only did the process allow them to get their properties seen by a wide range of potential buyers but they also didn’t have to put an additional investment for further advertising.
“Vendors want assurance that they have seen the best buyers the market has to offer, the auction method in the Ray White Group drives competition to deliver on this. The Apartment collective is an opportunity for more buyers to see their property without additional investment in marketing using a shared database across our CBD businesses. The auction method is the only way to create competition, while still giving buyers confidence to pay a premium price.
To date, the results have been incredibly successful and Mr Burling believes there is plenty more potential for the event to grow.
“Our first event saw 44 auctions held, of which 29 had active bidders. The highlights of the Collective were 6/21 Birdwood Crescent in Auckland City, that claimed the highest sale price of $1.2M and 4105/79 Albert Street in Brisbane, that attracted a huge 61 bids before selling for $572,000.”
“With the first event behind us, all of the offices and members involved are very keen to go again. The next Apartment Collective will engage more listings, looking to expand into three more CBD markets. Ray White are looking to be the leaders in inner-city apartment auctions, we will do so using our strength as a group. The combination of a large network, deeply engrained training and systems we are confident that this event will be an ongoing success.”
