WHY SHAUN STOKER KNOWS AUCTIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
SHAUN STOKER IS A TOP LEVEL PERFORMING PRINCIPAL OF RAY WHITE ERSKINEVILLE AND SURRY HILLS WHO ’ S SOLD MORE THAN 1,000 PROPERTIES OVER HIS 14 YEARS WORKING IN REAL ESTATE .
Last year , Shaun sold 130 properties at auction with an enviable 90 per cent clearance rate .
He spoke about auctions being a powerful process of truth telling , explaining what it means to his sellers and understanding their motivations . He uses empathy to maintain and build trust . For Shaun , auctions create urgency and a deadline , and it focuses him on the time limit .
But recently auctions have lost their sizzle and agents are pulling away from them as a method of sale . Auctions are a tool for a challenging market and create a process to follow when price becomes more challenging .
“ In this market , auctions work more than ever ,” Shaun said .
“ In the early days , I always wanted to be my owner ’ s best friend but I didn ’ t tell them what they didn ’ t want to hear and my clearance rate wasn ’ t that high .
“ You do have to build trust with your owners in the first week but after the second Saturday open you always need to have a face-to-face meeting . Trust is the key and it can be won or lost in the first week .
“ Traffic through an open is key , and so is phoning the buyers and asking for prices . The worst thing you can do for your owners is not get any offers . Communication is also the key - calling , emailing , texting and face-to-face is important .”
“ The worse the market , the better the auction process .”
He insists on always running an auction even if he only has one registered bidder ; that way they are negotiating face-to-face .
“ They want the keys and the owners are there and they all want to make a deal . It ’ s an unconditional sale too . That way you won ’ t have a valuer coming in ,” he said .
“ They say you have to do 100 auctions before you master the process but communication is the key , making sure you are always talking to your owners , do written reports and face-to-face , and work with your buyers to get offers .”
A lot of agents will sell prior and Shaun said you can get away with that in a good market but now with the market turning it ’ s a dangerous game .
“ If their offer gets rejected in week one you have to keep them interested for three weeks ,” he said .
“ Often buyers want a bargain at the start , then they will accept market price , but by auctioning and the power of social proof , they will often pay a premium .
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