Many home sellers get worked up about auction day, and while it can certainly be an emotional event, it’s actually the four weeks prior to the ‘big day’ that really count.

An analogy that springs to mind is that when you invest in the sharemarket, you can use daily analysis of performance and trends for your share portfolio to guide your investment decisions.

In the same vein, when you’re selling your home if you’re not getting detailed information and feedback between day one of marketing and auction day - including regular reports, buyer names, who the ‘hot buyers’ are, buyer history, and more - you should be demanding it of your agent.

Not receiving this information could lead you to make poor decisions leading into and on auction day.  

In a recent example I heard about, a vendor sold prior to auction - in fact just two weeks into the campaign.  What they didn’t know until after the fact was that a second buyer was becoming more engaged and emotionally attached to their home as the campaign wore on - they just weren’t quite ready at the start of the auction campaign.  Subsequently, the vendor could have missed out on extra money this buyer may have been willing to pay, with the right dialogue and feedback.

Applying open communications and reporting to a disciplined auction campaign can make you +$10,000 more come sale time. But so many vendors mistakenly focus on a reduction of say 0.3% commission, or $6,000, forgetting that the agent you choose and the process applied throughout the four-week campaign are the difference between a good price and a premium price.

This blog was first published on The Real Estate Conversation.