A (Satur-)day in the life of an Advocate

It’s never a dull day on a Saturday for us, but this weekend was life in technicolour for both of us. With a renewed level of energy and optimism, it was no surprise for Amy and I to see the auction clearance rate was immediately into the mid-sixties for Melbourne when the 7pm notification came through. Here’s how our day went….

After a big restful sleep on Friday night (we needed that; two of our five auctions went go-live on Friday afternoon), my day started with an 8am and 9am prospect meeting.

Then… auction time. Amy’s Northcote auction was the first one of the day. She was successful after an entire Friday afternoon and evening of due diligence on this property.

Amy’s text came through just as I was finding my position to stand and bid at Barnett St, Kensington. She had been successful in the face of six other bidders; arguably a strong start for second weekend since the ScoMo win.

Kensington’s auction didn’t go my way, but I did glean an interesting learning after watching the winning bidder and the underbidder thrash it out. I recognised the buyer’s energy prior to the auction start so I positioned myself to directly face her. Another couple approached the crowd and her demeanour changed. They knew each other; and it seemed to be a friendly and familiar union until the other couple declared that they too were going to attempt to buy the property.

Things just got interesting.

Bidder One wasn’t rapt. Visibly. She was determined to get it, even in the face of bidding against her friends. As the price swelled past my limit, Bidder Couple Two pounced in and they seemed to be anxiously consulting with each other at every bid. The question was: did their budget limit stop under their buddies’?

Or was it just too awkward bidding against a friend?

Sometimes an independent third party bidder is a good idea, particularly in situations like this.

The hammer fell in Bidder One’s favour but where will the friendship sit now, and will Bidder Couple Two be anxiously searching in a potentially rising market, feeling remorseful about a compromised situation at auction?
Possibly. Who knows?
One thing for sure though. Awkward.

In between auctions, I headed to a nearby suburb to check out this stunner with some lovely clients of ours. Grand Victorian… tick. Great street… tick. Suitable accomodation for their brief… tick. Wine cellar… tick. The specially arranged visit enabled our couple to wander through the house in privacy without a cluster of other buyers.

My 1pm auction in Brunswick required our Shadow-Bidder to join me in the event of a pass-in negotiation encroaching into the 2pm auction time slot. Max and I met at 12.45, just in time for the auction action. Four assertive bidders made sure I didn’t have any pass-in problems. The property sold under the hammer, but not without a lot of laughter amongst the crowd when the guy in high-vis gear enjoyed some casual dialogue with the auctioneer after his first few bids. His question as to whether the property was on the market was met with “Yes, Sir. Yes it is. Does that make you feel any differently?”

“Aww, I feel pretty good then, ’cause I’m winning it.”

His cavalier and relaxed approach visibly rattled other bidders and the property was promptly sold to him.

Amy’s text came through shortly after… sadly she’d been the underbidder for this gorgeous Edwarddian beauty in Elsternwick.

Our fifth and final auction was in Ascot Vale, where a huge crowd and a very friendly resident cat greeted me.

This auction was indeed going to be special because the agent had enlisted a younger apprentice to help ring the bell and bang the gavel after the final auction call. His dreams of being a master auctioneer came true yesterday and this show thrilled the crowd. I kept my tears hidden behind my dark glasses and received a proud high five from him when he knocked the property down to me.

The late afternoon surprise text was express from Geelong after our offer acceptance was being signed off for a stunning Geelong West stunner.

Just as we were putting our feet up, our midday inspection buyers decided to proceed with an offer at 6.30pm Saturday, so a call to a solicitor enabled us to conduct a full contract review and put in an offer on the property by 9.45pm.

Not a bad day’s work, we say.