Foxtons makes first move into online-only property auctions
The London agency is partnering with growing auction platform BidX1 which is to sell an initial 18 properties being marketed by Foxtons in an exclusive event later this month.
Foxtons has made its first move into online auctions following a partnership revealed last night with platform BidX1 that will see its first digital sale held on 25th February.
The estate agency is hoping to sell 18 houses and flats across London and the Home Counties and the initial auction will take place a week after BidX1’s main monthly event on 18th February and be dedicated to the agency’s own properties.
BidX1 was established in Ireland but has UK headquarters in Mayfair. It was the brainchild of a former Allsop auctions partner Stephen McCarthy (left), who in 2008 was invited by several Irish banks to help sell distressed stock following the financial crisis and the collapse of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy.
BidX1 have released a statement to The Negotiator saying: “Our platform is revolutionising property trading and we’re delighted to be collaborating with Foxtons, who have always been early adopters of technology.
“The process is the same as for all our online auctions: legal documents available for inspection on the platform, online registration, and transparent online bidding on the day, with all bids logged and displayed in real-time.
BidX1 claims that there are clear synergies in a collaboration which brings together Foxtons, London’s leading estate agent, and BidX1, market-leaders in the digitisation of property transactions. “We’re very excited to be working with them, a BidX1 spokeswoman said.
“There are over €100m worth of investment properties across five markets available on the BidX1 digital marketplace this month, in cities like Madrid, Johannesburg, Dublin and Nicosia, as well as London.”
Read more about Bidx.
Two leading brands a great synergy for both. What interests me most is that auction property is front loaded with all the legals and on the drop of the gavel, exchange takes place, a deposit is paid and completion follows.
Whilst in a chain of five, this is not a method that can be adopted, recent champions of moving the industry forward who have been vocal, Offr, Yourkeys, Mio etc, all have the same objective – making the archaic slow process of moving the title of a property from one party to the other speedier.
Are we at last getting to a point where – paper – and needless duplicated processes will be removed and the digital highway be the route used? As all the innovation coming in is based on property technology.
Many argue that auction is sometimes counter-productive to obtaining the best price, and a longer period of ‘traditional structured estate agency marketing’ produces better results.
But, in the click click instant world of the 2020’s, when a president can twitter some comment and tens of millions are aware of it instantly, in real-time due to news agencies, does the argument still stand up that it takes 16-weeks to find a buyer having ‘tested’ the market.
After all once on property portals and once data banks of buyers are connected, there is only a residual amount of untapped new buyers who will show interest in the coming weeks or months. Hence why half of all viewings tend to take place in the first 21-days that an instruction comes to the market.
Old thinking gets old solutions – new technology takes no prisoners.