Virtual hide and seek leads to successful online auction in SA

Ray White SA Chief Auctioneer John Morris.

INNOVATION has been the hero among the doom and gloom predictions and last night was the perfect example of that, as Ray White Tea Tree Gully Sales Agent Mohit Gupta sold 5 Melveen Street (below) in Modbury for $350,000, having never met the vendor or buyer before.

“I knew before I won the listing this property had huge development potential and I trawled through my database to reach out to people who may have been interested,” Mr Gupta said.

“We had three registered bidders on the night and I had never met any of them – it was only yesterday I saw the eventual buyers’ face for the very first time - and the bidders, including the purchaser, never visited or saw the property physically.

“It’s fair to say there are some skeptics out there and it’s our job as agents to overcome that. You can see by this sale that buyers will pay the right price for the right property.

“We’ve seen the quality of buyers increase dramatically as there is less window shopping and more people who are genuinely interested in purchasing.

“This property sold based on the pictures so it’s critically important to have high-quality marketing so your potential buyers can feel they’re there actually viewing the property.

“Online auctions are such a terrific platform because it still accommodates that emotional connection between all parties – our vendor was very pleased with the outcome.”

Ray White Tea Tree Gully Principal Sam Doman applauded Mr Gupta’s ability to turn adversity into opportunity through innovation.

“It really is incredible what my whole team is able to achieve in what is a ‘new normal’ and ever-changing world,” Mr Doman said.

“To be able to sell a property having never met the vendor of bidders in person is something I’ve never heard of in real estate – this sort of innovation is inspiring.

“But this is an everyday occurrence for Mohit. He recently sold 1 Raymond Road (above) in St Agnes off-market as sight unseen. Only at settlement did the buyer finally see the site – yet it still set the psqm record for Modbury and St Agnes, selling for $440,000.”

Ray White SA Chief Auctioneer John Morris said the advancements being made essentially overnight was a credit to a state packed full of talented agents.

“We know that auction is the best method of sale in any climate – but literally playing hide and seek with the vendor and buyers and then selling under the hammer – wow,” Mr Morris said.

“Results like these are what makes me proud to go to a potential vendor and say we can auction your property in ways you could never think of.”