The pictured property in Beech Road, Harrogate, had a guide price of £190,000 and sold for £248,000 at December’s property auction.
FSS has been selling houses in Harrogate for more than 20 years and their ability to spot a property that will do well at auction paid dividends for dozens of sellers in 2016.
Auctioneer Richard Smailes said the success of last year’s auction sales demonstrated how selling at auction brings certainty in a market that can be very hard to predict.
“The trick is in setting the guide price at a level that is both realistic and acceptable to the seller,” he explained.
“If the guide price is right, it’s a win-win situation for the seller with no upper limit to the price that can be achieved.”
FSS runs regular property auctions at Pavilions of Harrogate. Its September sale achieved a 100% success rate with three lots exceeding their guide price significantly - one by more than 50%.
A character cottage in Kirkby Overblow with a guide price of £150,000 eventually went under the hammer for £222,500 after some lively bidding and a building plot in Hampsthwaite, also with a guide price of £150,000, sold for £261,000.
At the December auction, the star of the show was a three-bedroom semi-detached house on Beech Road in Harrogate, in need of modernisation. The guide price was £190,000 but there was plenty of interest in the room and the property eventually sold for £248,000.
“These kinds of bids, well above the guide price, just don’t happen when a property is sold in the usual way and the prices we managed to secure at auction during 2016 have proved why selling by auction can be such a good move,” explained Richard.
“The other big advantage of an auction is that the sale is binding on the fall of the hammer and the seller can have the money in their bank within weeks,” he added.
“The fact that contracts are exchanged as soon as the hammer falls brings certainty for the seller and there is the added advantage of bringing the property to market in a competitive environment, where interest from several parties can push the price up beyond market expectations.
“However, for those who prefer traditional estate agency our experienced residential sales team is on hand to help them market their property through our estate agency side of the business,” added Richard.
The next FSS Auction will be at Pavilions of Harrogate on March 9.