A rural Oklahoma property lands a local buyer within 30 days on Auction.com after languishing on the MLS for a year.
Nearing retirement and looking to spend more time with six out-of-state grandchildren, Carl and his wife wanted to downsize from their 4,500-square-foot home in a small eastern Oklahoma town.
But after a year on the local multiple listing service (MLS), the property had still not sold.
“We’re certainly in a buyer’s market,” Carl said, referring to a real estate market in which the supply of properties exceeds demand, giving buyers an advantage. “A seller’s market you can just throw something on the MLS and it will get sold. That’s not the case anymore.”
The home’s higher-end price and amenities further limited the pool of potential buyers in the rural community where it is located, according to Carl, whose last name is being withheld to protect his privacy.
“Our house had an amazing view, but (prospective buyers) just didn’t get the value of the view,” he said, noting that the couple and their agent finally found a buyer who appreciated the home’s view and other amenities after posting it on a somewhat surprising marketplace: Auction.com through a new private seller feature called SmartSale®.
The Best of Both Marketplaces
“Within 30 days of adding SmartSale to the exposure of the property, we had an interested buyer,” Carl said. “He and his wife closed on the property within three weeks of entering escrow. It was a quick closing. No hassle.”
SmartSale allows individual homeowners to list their properties on Auction.com, either as a traditional auction or through a new Offers option that incorporates the best elements of an online auction — offers and counteroffers negotiated real-time in a transparent marketplace, culminating in a 24-hour Lightning Round — while preserving many of the elements of a traditional sale such as conventional financing, interior inspection and other contingencies. With SmartSale, the property also continues to be listed on the MLS.
“The world’s gotten smaller. Using online services to buy and sell anything is really how business is conducted today,” Carl said. “Relying on just a local data process like the MLS is limiting your options.”
“Not a Secret Anymore”
While the buyer ended up being a local resident, Carl believes the additional national exposure provided by Auction.com — with its more than 7.9 million users and tens of thousands of experienced local community developer buyers — helped to draw a local buyer out of the woodwork even when the MLS listing did not.
“Being a local person, they had a relationship with our Realtor, but we had not had an offer from this person until we had the added exposure (on Auction.com),” he said, noting that that buyer also invests in real estate, making him more likely to use Auction.com.
Additionally, Carl believes listing the property on Auction.com provided extra motivation for local buyers by adding in more competition from serious buyers around the country.
“You also put a local buyer on notice that they are competing with others that don’t live in the area who might be interested in buying,” he said. “It’s almost like it’s not a secret anymore.”
Trusted Price Realization
Having the property listed on Auction gave Carl and his wife confidence that the highest and best offer they received reflected the true market value of the property — price realization.
“While we didn’t get the price we wanted in the beginning, it was the price the market would bear and it was a very painless experience,” he said. “The listing price is about desire. The sale price is about reality.”
Now that the property is sold, Carl and his wife have more flexibility to travel while still maintaining their involvement as small business owners in the community.
“It was a great load off our shoulders,” he said. “Now we have more freedom to spend time with our grandchildren.”
Other homeowners looking to sell should consider taking advantage of the additional exposure that comes from listing their home for sale on Auction.com, according to Carl.
“You have to take advantage of any opportunity to get more eyes on the property,” he said, adding additional exposure is particularly important in a slower market. “Auction.com is the gold standard when it comes to this kind of stuff so why not take advantage of what (it has) built?”