The western Melbourne business owner pulled out all the stops, organising a DJ and catering, turning the auction into Cairnlea’s hottest street party.
The move paid off for Leigh after a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the four bedroom property sell. Among the crowd of more than 160 people were 12 registered bidders, however, only six were able to get in on the action after bidding quickly shot from the opening bid of $1.01 million, past the $1.2 million reserve and up to the eventual $1.41 million record sale price under Ray White Victoria and Tasmania auctioneer Matt Condon's hammer.
Leigh’s seller was thrilled and told the Herald Sun that she was in another world after netting $210,000 above her reserve.
Ray White Deer Park’s auction events are well-known in the area and Leigh’s intention was to create an atmosphere and a unique energy that would highlight the incredible lifestyle of the home.
“If I created an event that was powerful enough to engage and invoke extra emotion from buyers and bidders, the intention was that they would bid more and we’d have buyers bid at a higher level, which ultimately worked,” he said.
“And we wanted to do something different!”
Leigh’s Deer Park office is committed to the auction method and he often goes all out for the big ticket properties. This has never failed to produce an incredible response from buyers - and over expectation results for his sellers.
“I’ve changed the process across every single home put on sale with an auction event, whether it be with DJs or a cocktail event. I gauge how the clients and buyers react to that and modify it to each individual home,” he said.
“It’s so powerful with potential sellers. I’ve had sellers speak to me post-auction and the direct response has been that Ray White Deer Park is on another level.
“Now, going into a listing presentation with that seller, it’s a lot easier to sell the process. They’ve got the social proof that shows them we are a far superior auction agency compared to our competitors.
“We often get asked to replicate it.”
