Reporting from the front

Reporting from the front : When REDC, the American auction company, announced that they were planning to ‘take the UK property industry by storm’, the Estate Agent Today faithful made their feelings felt.

I wondered how many of us would actually be able to attend any of the auctions, so I sent one of the movewithus team. I’ve transcribed his feedback:

“The first thing I noticed was the glitz of the proceedings. As advertised, the tuxedoed ‘ushers’ – two chisel-jawed Americans with smiles that nearly blinded me – were busy stoking up interest with potential buyers before the auction commenced. A long line of ‘experts’ filed on to the stage and predictably informed the audience that now was the perfect time to buy and this was the place to get the best deals. Then, after a glossing over of the rules, the auction began.

“Once bidding started, everything moved very fast. It was like being at one of those ‘cattle-style’ auctions with someone scratching their nose and adding a bid. A couple of attendees were concerned that the multiples seemed to go up extremely fast during bidding. This happened at the Leeds event and must have been raised by someone, as much more clarity was given at the following event in Birmingham.

“At the Leeds auction, I counted 83 properties on auction. Of these, 30% had bids that were near to the reserve price and sold on the day, 40% had a bid provisionally accepted (went back to the vendor for approval) and 30% were not sold.

“I talked to a few curious British auctioneers while I was there. They weren’t impressed by proceedings and don’t think it is going to catch on – no surprises there. More interestingly, they claimed that through their auctions, they manage to sell 80% of their stock. This means that even if the REDC manage to sell all 40% of their provisionally accepted stock, they still fall short by 10%."

The REDC have said they’ll return in June. I wonder if they’ll be releasing official statistics so we can all see how successful their big splash has been. Only time will tell if UK lenders continue to see the REDC as the most effective way to sell their repossessed stock.

* Robin King is a director of movewithus