Richardson and Wrench

13 5.4 Silent Auction/Forthcoming Auction vs Public Auction The public auction sale process is focussed mainly on maximising the number of interested buyers and setting a deadline for those buyers to act. Public auctions are most suitable in a booming market and traditionally more affective in areas in close proximity to capital cities instead of outer city suburban areas such as outer Western & South Western Sydney. Silent auction/ forthcoming auction allows the seller to set a sales date which still revs up competition from potential buyers. However, unlike public auction, it does not put the pressure on a seller to ‘meet the market’ and also allows the seller to avoid the public humiliation of the property being ‘passed in’ in case there was no interest at public auction. A committed deadline creates as much pressure for the sellers as it does for the buyers, and traditionally, the nature of purchasing residential properties in lower demographic areas can cancel out a large segment of potential buyers using the public auction sales process. First home and young home buyers often don’t feel confident buying at auctions and are usually cautioned by their finance lenders to obtain unconditional finance approval before bidding at auctions. This can take time and prevent buyers from bidding at auction. Silent auction/forthcoming auction gives the seller the best of both the private treaty and public auction sale processes, providing a ‘horses for courses’ approach, subject to market response during the advertising campaign.