Bill Sheridan's visit to Preview Properties.com

Bill Sheridan of Sheridan Auction Service visited Preview Properties.com's sales meeting on Tuesday, August 18.

Here's the link to his website: http://www.sheridanauctionservice.com/. I am adding it to the quick links on the righthand side bar of this blog, where you can also find links to REDC, Williams & Williams and Hudson & Marshall. Bill also suggested http://www.auctioneers.org/, which I also added to the quick links. Sheridan Auction Service has locations in Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids - and coming soon Fort Wayne.

Bill said sellers entering the auction process need to have the correct level of motivation. His firm has a 93% success rate...and they turn down a lot of business because the proper motivation does not exist. if you have a listing where the seller has one of the following motivations to sell, the property might be appropriate for auction:

1. Death
2. Divorce
3. Dismissal
4. Default
5. Disease

Sheridan Auction Service can work with a Realtor to sell a property in the following ways:

1. Referral - the agent surrenders the listing to Sheridan Auction Service. Sheridan will pay a referral fee.
2. Partnership - they will work with an agent who signs a contract. A 5% buyers premium is assessed to the buyer.
3. Subagency at real estate auctions.
4. Buyer agent compensation.

A few other notes:

• The process usually takes 6-8 weeks total.
• The seller is expected to pay for the advertising in advance, although some flexibility may be available depending on circumstances.
• If real estate doesn't sell in a reserve auction, the responsibility for disposition of the property returns to the listing agent.
• An absolute auction is where the property sells no matter what the price.
• "No sale fees" may be assessed.
• Properties typically are sold for cash only with no contingencies; however buyers can be preapproved for a mortgage and if the deal falls through they would lose their earnest money, which is higher than a traditional real estate transaction. The properties are expected to close in 45 days.