THERE’S a new kid on the auction block aiming to get a slice of the national market. It should have at least 25 properties going to auction at the Red Cow Moran Hotel just before Easter on April 5th under the banner of Independent Property Auctions (IPA).
IPA is a new company which is getting independent local agents to sell together on one day, the aim being to help them get national attention for their properties.
About 33 independent real estate agents – firms that aren't part of a group or a franchise – have registered on IPA's website ( independentpropertyauctions.com) so far.
Its deadline for agents to register – and to commit properties for auction, at a cost of €599 plus Vat per property – is February 24th.
The auction catalogue should be available within a week or so of that date .
A family from Warrenpoint, Co Down, is behind the latest group auction: auctioneer (and SDLP politician) PJ Bradley and his children Will, Martin and Sinead came up with the idea of an all-Ireland auction and have talked to 150 auctioneers north and south in the past year as well as to banks and receivers.
Once agents have submitted properties for auction, IPA will send the entries to everyone else iwho’s registered so they can see what reserves are being put on them.
They don’t want anything in their catalogue that doesn’t have a realistic reserve, says Will, MD of IPA.
They guarantee that once bidding has reached the reserve, the property will be sold.
Kilkenny auctioneer George Candler, experienced in selling both livestock and residential properties, will be the man on the rostrum on the day.
“He’s very charismatic with the hammer,” says Will Bradley.
A number of auctioneers have challenged Allsop/Space’s mass auction formula in the past year, but none successfully.
Allsop/Space will be back with a bang on March 1st, with another 100 distressed properties going under the hammer.
Unsurprisingly, it was flooded with inquiries for its cottage in Leitrim with a €7,500 reserve after it announced details of its next auction earlier this week.
