Starting out a new business, 247 Property Auctions, as the pandemic took hold of the country in March 2020, I could see a requirement for flexible weekly online auctions supporting both private and corporate clients. With my expertise of over 20 years in the business, and an extensive network of property connections looking to buy and sell, my new clients quickly saw the benefits of selling by online auction.

247 started out offering the ability to sell via traditional online auction only. This traditional format sees exchange occur as the virtual gavel falls. Giving both buyers and sellers immediate security and a speedy method of sale.

At the start of 2021, as I was tracking the market and the surge in demand for property and land, I recognised that estate agents up and down the country were, more frequently, using the format of sealed bids due to the competitive nature of the market. Seeing an opportunity to extend our services and provide increased support to partners we commenced an extended support to offer conditional online auctions, giving clients a very relevant solution in this current climate.

The format for a conditional auction includes a process where buyers place bids for a lot with a time period of 28 days following the fall of the gavel to allow for exchange of contracts. It makes the auction process more accessible.

Currently working with a number of estate agents, it was clear the conditional online auction format would be of benefit to our new and existing partners. Selling by this method gives the client the ability to maximise on the sale price if there is expected to be high-levels of interest in a property. Which seems to be for almost every type of property in this purple-patch in the property marketplace here in the Westcountry.

Understanding the workload that agents were experiencing, to be able to offer this service to our clients allows for the underpinning work to be done by myself and my team. I know many of us have had to adapt and in turn adapt how we work, and our businesses, during these unprecedented times. This is one way we are trying to move with the times.