Property auctions go online with Go-Dove South Africa’s first live auction

An award-winning property professional, Faclier’s appointment to Go-Dove’s online property auction division in Africa, marks a historic moment in Go-Dove’s development both locally and internationally. The new division, which is part of GoIndustry DoveBid SA , will focus its attention on commercial, industrial, retail and high-end residential properties.

GoIndustry Plc is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange with 40 offices across 27 countries. GoIndustry DoveBid SA , which opened its doors locally in 2004, represents the company on the African continent. Globally, Go-Dove (as it is known in its abbreviated form) has been involved in international online auctions (via its site, www.Go-Dove.com) since 2000 and is the world’s largest specialist plant and machinery valuation and disposal company. Its new South African-based online property auction division is the company’s first worldwide venture into online property auctions.

The success behind the global enterprise has been Go-Dove’s proprietary auction software platform that has taken the company over 10 years to develop at a cost of US$10-million.

Says John Cowing, MD of GoIndustry DoveBid SA: “The time has now come to use this highly successful transactional platform to enable the property investment community to cross over into the online auction arena.

“It also suits the business environment in South Africa for us to do this, as we can now use our platform to increase our service offering online to all our auction clients across the board: corporates, property investors, the accounting and legal fraternities, and the financial institutions.”

While a number of auction houses do offer a type of online facility, the process has been hindered to date largely by the need to use ‘third party’ service providers. Explains Cowing: “When you register for the auction, you are for the most part taken to a site outside of the auction house. Not only are transaction capabilities quite limited and you may only be able to submit a bid prior to the auction, but your security may also be compromised. The Go-Dove platform changes this scenario completely: not only is our site fully interactive while the auction is happening, it is also 100% secure as it is hosted entirely in-house, from the registration process to the live auction and the final signing of the sales contract.”

Another advantage of the new Go-Dove division in South Africa is that, while buyers will still be responsible for a 10% deposit on the fall of the hammer, the auctioneer’s commission will only be payable when the property transfers, and not on the day of the auction.

Explains Cowing: “This gives both the buyer and the seller the peace of mind that we will be with them through the entire life of the transaction. Usually an auctioneer’s role ends when the hammer falls.”

Cowing also believes that the Go-Dove process is more in line with the intention of the new consumer protection act that states a fee can only be charged once a service has been delivered. “Go-Dove has always been in the business of seeing successful transactions through to conclusion. As far as property is concerned, this is the way real estate agencies have operated for years, so why should other auctions be any different?”

A further advantage of using Go-Dove’s online property auction division, is the reduction of the standard 10% auctioneer’s commission charged as the norm, to 8%.

Having come from the traditional world of auctioning in South Africa, the new division is an exciting challenge for Kim Faclier, who was also the winner of the prestigious 2010 Women’s Property Network award.

“There can be no argument that property auctions as we have known them in the past have been exciting events. In fact, they’ve been known as ‘auction-tainment’. But just as online changed the face of banking across the globe, the time has come to embrace the online arena for property auctions.

“In the past, auctioneers have had to go to tremendous expense to put on events that, while they could attract upwards of 400 people in one go, maybe only 20 to 30 of those would be serious bidders and only local properties could be on offer. With Go-Dove’s online platform, you can still host a multiple property auction event, but now you can include properties from anywhere across the country or even the continent.

“It also means that potential buyers can now transact from the comfort of their own environment – be that their home, their boardroom or an office in London. They can have their financial advisors close at hand, in a private setting, and not have to worry about getting to a particular venue on a particular day.”

The advantages to sellers are also numerous. Explains Cowing: “Firstly, because of Go-Dove’s international exposure and business environment, online auction properties will be exposed to buyers both locally and internationally. Plus an auction that offers multiple properties from multiple areas also means one single, nationwide advertising campaign, with costs shared by the various vendors.

“So, in a nutshell, the advantage to the seller is lower marketing costs, global and national exposure and therefore more buyers (which mean higher returns). Plus, because the buyer’s premium (auctioneer’s commission) is lower on our auctions, the 2% difference will effectively flow into the coffers of the sellers.”

Go-Dove’s South African-based operation has already benefited from the experience of auctioneer Joey Burke who joined the company 18 months ago. Having grown up in the auction business and today in charge of new business development for GoIndustry DoveBid SA, Burke is well-known both for his property expertise as well as for the more than R30-million he has raised over the years as a highly sought-after charity auctioneer for NGOs such as the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Reach for a Dream. Together with auctioneer and property valuer, Donovan Dalton, Burke will now turn his fulltime attention to form part of Faclier’s new division.

GoIndustry DoveBid SA's first online South African property auction with Kim Faclier at the helm will close on Thursday, 25th August 2011. Properties that form part of this sale can be viewed online from a month prior to this date. Visit www.Go-Dove.com for more information.