Online real estate auction platform Openn Negotiation has reported a successful weekend as the industry turns to the online realm for property auctions.
Open Negotiation said its first sale for the weekend occurred at 6pm Friday night, shepherding in a positive weekend of activity.
“34 Maitland Street, Geelong West, Victoria has just been successfully sold by Real Estate Geelong agent Wes Thornton via an online auction,” Openn Negotiation announced.
The reserve price of the property was $815,000 and it sold for $867,000 – $52,000 above reserve.
“I’m so glad we have Openn Negotiation during these circumstances. We are pushing ahead with all of our sales, nothing is being cancelled,” Mr Thornton said.
“One bidder for the property was in the UK. The successful bidder was from bidding from Sydney. The property was on the market for 15 days.”
All bidders on Openn Negotiation sign a contract before bidding so when the final bid was accepted by the system the sale documents were all finalised automatically.
Launched in mid-2017, Openn Negotiation has sold more than $830 million in property to date.
The service is delivered via an app so there is no physical meeting at an auction gathering.
The agent remains completely in control of the sale and all legal documents are automated on the app so there is no need for any physical contact with a buyer or seller to sign documents.
Openn Negotiation’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Gibbons said there had been a significant increase in inquiries from agents looking to get trained in the platform, and the company is well placed to manage the influx.
“Over the past three years we have made a significant investment in the Openn Platform to make sure it is a seamless and transparent way for buyers and sellers to interact,” Mr Gibbons said.
“There are already over 2,000 agents across Australia who are certified in the use of the Openn platform. We’ve seen a 350 per cent increase in registrations for our online learning in March. We expect that to continue to grow.
“Currently we have agents registered from all the major networks in Australia including Ray White, McGrath, LJ Hooker and Elders as well as hundreds of local agencies.”
