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An “out of the ordinary” and “once in a blue moon” auction saw $320,000 going towards a good cause.
Harcourts shared that 10 Sebastopol Hill Road, Omeo, Victoria, was offered for the first time in 100 years in a “no-reserve auction”, where there was no minimum price set.
Christian Hamilton, Harcourts’ head of auctions, underlined the rarity of such auction conditions.
“In the 4,000 [plus] auctions I’ve called, I’ve only ever done one ‘no-reserve’ auction,” he commented.
Thanks to the generosity of the sellers, proceeds from the sale of the three-bedroom residence with a single garage, which sits on approximately 1680 square metres in two allotments, will be donated to local Omeo charities/organisations that have been nominated as beneficiaries.
While no-reserve auctions are typically considered a risky strategy for the seller because there is a chance that the item could sell for less than its actual value, it is considered a strong selling strategy for charity auctions.
With no reserve price set, bidders are encouraged to bid more freely, as they know that they have a chance to win the item at a lower price than they might have expected.
In turn, this generates strong interest and bidding activity, which can lead to higher prices and more funds raised for a charitable cause.
Ahead of the auction, Mr Hamilton had said he was “really looking forward to calling this one”.
“Every auctioneer loves saying ‘sold!’ but it doesn’t happen every time. In this case, it’s guaranteed,” he stated.
He added that the auction’s uniqueness also lay in its “reflection of the keen community spirit in the local community”.
“The generosity of the seller, coupled with the exhilaration of a certain sale and bidders from around the nation, makes for a very special event,” Harcourts stated.
To further drum up interest in the property, Harcourts had allowed interstate bidders to participate in the auction by staging it virtually last 23 February.
Ahead of the sale, Mr Hamilton expressed his optimism for the auction: “Given the circumstances, we expect strong bidding — which, with all the proceeds going to charity, would be a great outcome,” he stated.
The network ultimately reported 12 bidders registered for the sale event, with four actively bidding when the property went under the hammer.
With an initial bid of $100,000, the sale was guaranteed to the highest bidder for $320,000.
While the sellers were “very happy” about the results of the auction, Mr Hamilton pointed out that the auction was also a “rare opportunity to secure tremendous value” for buyers due to the property’s development potential and proximity to amenities such as the hospital and primary school.
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