Sold in just seven hours from instruction to exchange

A £1m property has been sold for the full asking price in just seven hours – the time it took from instruction to exchange.

It was sold by Auction House London which received a phone call from the seller of the property in Mill Hill at 10am last Friday, and it was sold under auction conditions to one of two interested buyers by 4.30 that afternoon.

Auctioneer Andrew Binstock said: “When the owner first got in touch, he said that he wanted us to sell the property in three days – but our next scheduled auction was still several weeks away.

“Nevertheless, I suggested that as we had a huge database of buyers, as well as a large presence online, I thought we could help.

“As an auction lot, I would have suggested the right level to take it on at would have been in the region of £850,000-£900,000.

“But as it was not being treated as an auction instruction, there was no harm in taking the vendor’s valuation as our guide.”

Auction House London was given access to look around the property at 2pm. But rather than simply going along with just one of the auction team to view it, Binstock sought and achieved permission to promote it and conduct an impromptu block viewing for any potential buyers at the same time.

He then sent an urgent newsletter out to his registered buyers for north-west London, uploaded the details to the website and all relevant portals, and spent the next three hours drumming up interest.

A dozen potential buyers went to the property, along with an Auction House London member of staff.

Binstock explained: “My employee made it very clear to all those on site that best offers would be invited as soon as the viewing was over.

“Whilst for most of the parties there, the house was not quite right or priced a little beyond their own valuation, two of the viewers were seriously interested.

“After discreet discussions with both, one of them was willing to proceed at the full £1m asking price.”

The seller’s solicitor had prepared a legal pack during the previous couple of hours, which was forwarded to the buyer’s solicitor. The buyer then went along to the boardroom of Auction House London with their solicitor to hammer home the deal.

Binstock said: “By 4pm, questions from the buyer’s solicitor had been satisfactorily answered, and within half an hour the buyer was happy and ready to put down his deposit.”

Binstock added: “Not only had the vendor achieved a sale in seven hours, but he had exchanged at the same price that he had been told by local estate agents his house was worth. No discount was necessary.

“Of course, I am not saying that we could reproduce that kind of result every time we are asked, but it does show that property auctioneers are not just about yelling numbers at people in glamorous hotel ballrooms.

“We also have the ability to find buyers at very short notice and conduct quick, professional, legally-binding sales at the very best prices when required to do so.”

In answer to questions from EYE, Binstock said he did not know why such a quick sale was required, but thought it was probably related to a purchase.

Quick transactions are a flag for money laundering, but Binstock said all the usual checks were carried out within the seven hours.

Yesterday evening, a spokesperson for Auction House London emphasised: “Auctioneers don’t just shout out figures at auctions. They can also act proactively in generating successful sales, at asking price, in incredibly short periods of time.”

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10 Comments

  1. danny

    Sale by auction happened quickly shocker , I would suggest that selling a house at less then current market in London isn’t a super human feat .  Which Area was it , how many beds ?

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    1. Homefinders Plus

      It was in Mill Hill, says so on the second line.

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  2. Rob Hailstone

    It does go to show, once again, how a ‘legal pack’ can help speed up the progress of a transaction.

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  3. NickTurner

    HIPS had a place and need looking at again. If ALL vendors were required to have a ‘legal pack’ available before marketing it would take a lot of time wasters out of the market place thus saving costs all round but especially for agents.

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    1. smile please

      Also stop a lot of properties coming to the market in an already starved market, which is why prices are rising at a silly rate.

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  4. Woodentop

    In answer to questions from EYE, Binstock said he did not know why such a quick sale was required, but thought it was probably related to a purchase. So he doesn’t need to comply with MLR? (Yes he does)

     

    He hasn’t done anything that hundreds of agents have achieved over the years … get the sale agreed same day. Its is only the conveyancing that was done quickly. How many conveyancers are prepared to offer a full pack in a day (or have the nonce to!) and on both sides of the sale. Was the property surveyed and full searches or was the buried head in sand option taken by the buyer? Any agent can do this if the conveyancers are prepared to work that fast ….. pigs will fly and HIPs are not the answer in the mainstream and were never put together in a day. Many failed miserably and had to be re-done on sale.

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    1. Rob Hailstone

      You can’t put a legal pack together in a day? If the conveyancer was instructed earlier in the process (like with Hips in many cases) and put in funds for at least the disbursements likely to be incurred, many conveyancers would have the ‘nonce’ to prepare a pack. Surely it is down to the agent (first foot through the door) to explain to the seller the benefits of having a legal pack prepared?

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      1. smile please

        I would hazard a guess shortcuts were taken. and the purchaser “Took a view” in order for their offer to be accepted.

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      2. Woodentop

        I’m not against HIPs for the value of a same day sale. But it has to be prepared ahead of time. It wasn’t done in this case but cobbled together with many questions being asked of shortcuts etc. The scenario is it takes 3 weeks (an example) to get the pack together, this work is done before listing, the property is then sold the next day within 24 hours to a buyer who’s been waiting months, but it actually took 24 hrs plus three weeks to get there for the vendor. Now look at it as standard practice today, the property is SSTC same day as listing (within 24 hrs) and the conveyancing takes three weeks. Exactly the same period of time for the vendor, but this time only the buyer benefited. That is the only advantage of HIPs but wait ………. The conveyancer and lender for a sale agreed some months later will no longer accept the out of date HIP. Back to square one and the conveyancer now gets two bites of the cherry!

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  5. Property Paddy

    Is this a story ?

    Agent sells house quickly !!

    Is there anyone on this forum who hasn’t sold a house quickly? Yes 7 hours is very speedy but 24/48 hour sales aren’t exactly unheard of, are they?

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