When it comes to purchasing a home, buyers often turn to an estate agent to help look for their dream house. It usually involves clicking onto a property website, or calling up after seeing an ad in a paper. But this isn’t the only way to purchase a property, with buyers using other avenues to secure a property. According to Disley Communications Ltd., house hunters are increasingly shunning the “property chain” and buying their new homes in a similar way to auction site eBay, with online auctions soaring in recent months.
In 2018, the total value of UK property sold via online auction was estimated at £236million.
While this could be due to financial pitfalls, 46 per cent more properties were sold this way in the first five months of 2019 versus the same time last year.
One company recently launched weekly sales to cope with the rising demand.
Landwood Property Auctions revealed they had 49 properties on their books last month – worth around £3m and 800 per cent up on the number of transactions in January.
The Manchester-based company claims its overall sales have now surpassed the £14M mark.
“The average amount of time it takes to sell a property through traditional methods is 62 days – but through Landwood’s online auctions it’s just 14 days,” explained Director Kate Lay.
“Sellers – and buyers – have all the expertise, experience and benefits of an estate agent, but the whole process is much quicker and more convenient.
“We have dealt with everything this year from a city centre penthouse in Manchester, to a farmhouse in Gwent, a holiday home in the Shetland Isles and a former care home in Cumbia.”
The director revealed that some properties have attracted over 100 bids, with a two bed mid terrace in Birmingham getting 103 bids.
“Bidders love the convenience of the online bidding process, with it being so easy to partake. They also benefit from a very transparent platform that shows exactly how many people they are up against,” she said.
“Sellers are attracted because of the speed and certainty of sale. A recent client came to us after having their house on the market for £55,000 with a traditional estate agent for more than four months. We sold it for £76,000 with 23 days.”
A two bedroom house was recently listed on Zoopla for just £40,500.
The terraced house – which is located in Guisboroguh – has two bedrooms, a drive, a spacious kitchen and dining area, as well as a back garden.
However, buyers should beware of the low price tag.