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Shaun Stoker: Do auctions work in a cooling market?

While most agents understand the value of auctions when markets are hot, the auction process can also be a powerful sales method when markets begin to cool down.

Getting great results for vendors in all market conditions is something Shaun Stoker, Principal of Ray White Erskineville and Surry Hills, knows well, having sold more than 1000 properties over his 14 years working in real estate with 130 properties sold at auction last year at a 90 per cent clearance rate. 

In this interview with Ray White Group Head of Performance, Tim Snell, Shaun reveals how he is able to dominate at auction and why top agents can make their vendors more money during a slowing market while others struggle to get people through an open home.

Shaun discusses the step-by-step formula he uses to attract buyers, get people through open homes and ultimately receive offers from multiple bidders on auction day.

He also talks about how he communicates with both vendors and buyers and how he’s able to have difficult conversations with sellers around price in slowing markets.

If you’re an agent looking to improve your results in a changing market, this episode is for you.

“I want to look an owner in the eye and be able to say, we have achieved the best in marketplace.” – Shaun Stoker.

Tim and Shaun also discuss:

  • How the auction process can protect a vendor’s price as the longer a property sits on the market the worse the result is for the seller.
  • Why you need to come back to fundamentals and communicate with vendors in a slowing market and the best way to do that through building trust.
  • The most effective way to build trust first before you give your vendors hard feedback around the property’s value.
  • Why traffic through the open home early on helps gets offers, and shows results and momentum which builds trust with a vendor.
  • How the ongoing interest of buyers matters just as much as getting people through the open home and how to identify motivated buyers who are prepared to make offers.
  • Why you need to demonstrate the power of having a database and how you are going to get buyers through a property, which will help you win more listings.
  • Why the speed of a deal can actually be an issue for a vendor if they are not prepared to accept what the market is giving them, and how to slow a deal down to get the best result.
  • The problem with over-promising around price in a slowing market and how to manage a vendor’s expectations by understanding the real reason why they are looking to sell.
  • Why auction day itself is just one chance to sell a property and the worse the market, the better the auction process actually works, because you have multiple opportunities to sell the property.
  • Why a top agent needs to have the confidence to be able to tell the owners the truth about their property, regardless of how hard that might be.

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Rowan Crosby

Rowan Crosby is a senior journalist at Elite Agent specialising in finance and real estate.