However, as with all things, there can be downsides to auctioning your home rather than selling it through the traditional real estate sale process with an agent or to a real estate investment firm like Fast Cash Offers.
Is Auctioning Your House A Good Idea In Houston?
If you’re looking at auctioning off your Houston house, keep in mind that there are several preparations that you must make before the actual auction starts.
The “Do’s”
- In order to actually get your house auctioned off, you must first find an auctioneer in Houston.
There are many auctioneering companies out there today, so do your research before picking one to represent your house. One place you can start is your local phone book, a referral, or head over to the National Auctioneers Association website and do a quick search for auctioneers here in Texas. Look for those with plenty of experience, and even try attending an auction or two, just to get a feel on how they run things.
Make sure to find out how much they charge for their services, as they can be quite high at times. In some instances they may take up to ten percent commission greatly reducing the amount of profit that you will receive.
Or heck, if you don’t want to hire an auctioneer… you can do it yourself. A good auctioneer can really help drive the price of a house up with their skill… but you can run the auction yourself as long as you’re clear about the rules of the auction with bidders. You can start with the bid price, whether they have to bring cash or a deposit at the auction, etc.
- Decide which kind of auction you want to run – Absolute or Reserve?
Once you feel that you’ve selected the right auctioneering company for your house in Houston, establish which kind of auction you want it to be, absolute or reserve. In absolute auctions there is no minimum limit that your house must earn in order to be sold. This means that whatever the highest bid may be, is what you’re going to get. Reserve auctions are those that have a minimum limit, and if it doesn’t reach that limit, it doesn’t get sold.
Although it seems like a clear choice between the two, don’t assume that reserve auctions are necessarily better. Sometimes if bidders aren’t willing to reach the limit, it will never be sold and you’ll be sitting on a house that you don’t want. Also, auctions that are “no reserve” (or absolute) tend to attract more potential bidders who are looking for a great deal.
It could mean the difference between selling the house that day or not so think about it carefully. Decide on what is it that you want more? If you want to sell your house as quickly as possible in Houston, then doing an absolute auction is the quicker way. If not, then perhaps a reserve auction would be more in line to your goals.
The “Dont’s”
- Don’t leave out any faults about the house from your auction description. A really important step in selling your house at an auction in Houston is to list all problems that your property has.
Don’t leave out anything because if you do the buyers have a right to come after you for any flaws that you didn’t list out before the auction.
Last…
- Don’t go into an auction with fantasies of a bidding war erupting, leaving you with an enormous profit.
Place a realistic price that you hope to earn. Don’t be too disappointed if your house sells for less than you think it’s worth.
You may have an emotional attachment to the house that the people bidding on don’t have. Auctioning your house in Houston may bring in less money than a real estate sale, but it is relatively quick, and can spare you the heartache and stress of the more traditional approach.
Why Are You Thinking About Auctioning Your Houston House Anyway?
You landed on this article for a reason… auctioning off your house has crossed your mind.
It may help sell your house more quickly… so why not give it a go right?
Before you choose to auction off your local house… try another option first.
Our company, Fast Cash Offers, buys Houston area houses. We’re not looking to list your house… we’re looking to actually buy it.
- In any condition
- Any part of town and even other parts of Texas
- Ugly houses, pretty houses, houses in great shape, houses that need lots of repairs
- Houses with lots of equity and even houses with little or no equity
We’ll pay a fair price, we can close fast (in as little as 7 days), and you won’t have to fix up the house at all.
If you’d like to see what we can pay for your house BEFORE you decide to auction it off… reach out to us.
You can call us anytime at (713) 635-9000 or just click the link below and fill out the form on the next page to start the process.
So, is auctioning your house a good idea in Houston?… that’s up to you to decide. But if you want to see if working with us makes more sense first before you jump into the “auction” world… submit your info below to get started today!
Get A Cash Offer On Your Houston Area House Here >>
Here’s another great read that we found when writing this article on some more tips and questions you should ask yourself before you auction off your house.