Auctioning Homes on eBay
In a class this morning, Mimi from our auction team was asked by another agent about how to conduct an eBay auction for a house. Mimi’s answer was very eye opening, “You don’t.”
Her colleague Dale further explained that unless you’re the actual owner of a house, real estate agents can not auction homes on eBay unless they are licensed by the state as auctioneers. Real estate broker Tom from St. Louis, Missouri says on the Homes & Agents site that you only have to be a licensed real estate agent to sell homes through online auctions, so this points to rules varying from state to state.
I suspect you could auction a mobile home - without the land - because it’s considered personal property rather than real property. For example, if a seller calls me who lives in a mobile home park to list their trailer, I could not because Realtors sell LAND and any house or building on it is considered an improvement that adds value to the land.
Overall, regular real estate auctions are picking up. Douglas Heddings of True Gotham Real Estate Blog says,
They key once again to creating the perception of value is to aggressively price the property to appeal to a larger pool of buyers. A tricky task in today’s less heated market.
In today’s less heated market, everything is a tricky task - from finding the right marketing strategy to pricing to figuring out how to compel a buyer to offer a fair market price when they’re under the perception that sellers are giving their homes away in a buyers’ market!
Meanwhile, I visited the real estate auctions on eBay. In one hour, 47 minutes, the bidding will be over for a home in Flint, Michigan. Current bid: $5300. Two bedrooms, one bath. “Great investment property.”
