Openn Negotiation is the newest form of selling your home in the NT. We were interested in finding out more about it, so we spoke with Openn Negotiation seller Simon Watts to help answer some questions.

Q: How many properties have you sold on Openn Negotiation?

A: Over the past 18 months I have sold 78 properties via the Openn Negotiation sales process with an average days on market of only 19 days.

Q: How many properties has Real Estate Central sold on his platform?

A: In the past 18 months our office has sold over 350 properties using the Openn Negotiation platform….quite an incredible achievement being a relatively new sales method.

Q: Can you give the pros and cons of Openn Negotiation compared to a traditional Auction?

A: I love this question as, in my opinion, the pros of using Openn Negotiation to sell a property far out way the cons.

In every Openn Negotiation & Auction sale there are obviously three different parties who are involved in the process….the seller, the agent and the buyer, lets look deeper into that….so here goes…

Pros for a seller – More buyers can get involved in the process (bidders are able to bid subject to approved conditions from the owner) and hence more bidders and potentially a better result. With Openn Negotiation, gone are the days where a buyer is interested in a property but end up standing at an auction and can’t bid as they haven’t secured unconditional finance approval. Sellers can approve buyers who have a finance condition (as long as the agent does their due care and diligence to ensure that finance looks solid for that buyer). Also, sellers know how many buyers are going to participate at the final bidding stage “on line auction day” and what their conditions are…they have a lot more control over the process.

Cons for a seller – Property may sell to a bidder subject to finance meaning they may have to wait 14-21 days to have an unconditional contract where as the traditional auction method is 100% unconditional.

Pros for a buyer – They know exactly what price to beat as it is an open and transparent method. No more getting gazumped! Also, if there is no opening bid on a property, then a buyer can place a bid at a price that they are comfortable with…as long as their bidding conditions are approved by the owner then we can approve them as a bidder. A buyer can also bid subject to finance so it just takes that stress off the buyer knowing that they aren’t locked in to a contract should their finance fall over (Note: In the past 18 months I have personally only had one deal fall over due to finance getting knocked back for a buyer…and we ended up selling that property within 24 hours to the under bidder, so all good). This process takes the stress out of buying at auction and they can bid from anywhere in Australia (or the world) all in the comfort of their own home! It just makes sense!!

Cons for a buyer – Each buyer needs to hop on line to www.Openn.com.au (or use the Openn app) to enter their bid on that property. Although the agent is here to assist with the process, it takes about three minutes to place the bid and to add the buyers conditions of bid….so potentially longer than calling the agent, running through everything with them, how to bid, potentially entering into a back and forth negotiation (that you don’t really know if the agent is being legit on pricing with you or not), taking the time to drive to an auction on site,….actually, in saying that it is a lot easier and quicker via Openn Negotiation ?

Q: Do you think Openn Negotiation could reach a popularity level that sellers will only choose Openn Negotiation and not list on other platforms such as Domain & Realestate.com.au?

A: No…well, not in the near future anyway. Real estate advertising portals such as Homely.com, Realestate.com, Domain.com, etc have the reach and exposure to attract more interest, hence more buyers ensuring that no stone is left unturned. Openn Negotiation is primarily a successful sales method and currently not a tool used to market the property. In saying that, I have had bidders join the process by viewing the property on the Openn website, so there is certainly a level of exposure (albeit a low level) however, there isn’t enough exposure on the Openn Negotiation platform to ensure a premium result without marketing on the main web portals and other marketing means.

Q: Is this the end of auctions?

A: No. Although I personally don’t believe that the traditional auction sales method ensures the best result for all parties, it is still a tried, proven and successful sales method. Ever since starting my career in real estate in 2006, I have been a huge advocate for the auction process as it has far more benefits for buyers and a seller than any other sales method. However, and again this is my opinion, times have changed and buyers, sellers and agents need to adapt to new and improved ways of selling real estate. Openn negotiation is an auction sales method, however, it has been designed and created to ensure a win/win/win for all parties in the sales process and to keep up with the times as well as buyers and sellers demands and requirements. Finding a win/win/win for all parties has always been a challenge in my career…until now.

Q: Will Real Estate Central still have another “Big Auction Day” this year?

A: There has been some talk of having one again by a few of the agents in the office, however, I feel that this wont be the case this year.

Simon Watts is a born and breed Territorian with over 14 years experience in the real estate who won Rookie of the year in 2017 & 2014, 2015 and 2017 Simon REINT Community Service awards and is currently a sales professional at Real Estate Central.