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Matthew Sullivan
In what was claimed to be a first for the state, a Victorian agent has asked auction bidders at an in-room event to register prior to bidding.
While there is no legal requirement for bidders to register their details at auction in Victoria, Andrew Freeman from Ray White Wantirna has found this to be an effective way to build vendor and home buyer confidence in the auction process.
“By having a registered bidder system in place allows everybody to take great confidence in knowing that the agent has recorded the details of all bidders involved and can follow up with them if they have to,” Mr Freeman told Real Estate Business.
“This is something that we have always encouraged with our in house auctions and have not once had a vendor or bidder upset with this system."
Mr Freeman’s comments related to an auction he conducted in Geelong earlier this week. The auction involved 29 properties valued at around $15 million, with 64 registered bidders.
In addition, agents that use a registration system may also be able to boost their prospect database by recording the details of all active buyers.
“We take their driver’s license and record all their [the bidders'] details. We now know who they are and where they are located,” Mr Freeman said.
However, not all agents believe there is a need for such a system in Victoria.
Compton Green Real Estate director and chief auctioneer Adrian Butera told Real Estate Business that he doesn't believe the Victorian government will introduce a compulsory registration system any time soon.
“Other than giving vendors and bidders more confidence, there really is no need for a registration system here in Victoria,” he said.
“Both New South Wales and Victoria both addressed the issue of dummy bidders, however only New South Wales decided to introduce and enforce registration. I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, but I’m confident in the current requirements of Victorian auctioneers.”
At Victorian auctions, there must be signs showing a list of statutory rules, and agents are required to read out an ‘auctioneer statement’ prior to the start of the auction, Mr Butera, a finalist at the recent Australasian Auctioneering Championships, added.
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