Real estate: in Caen, interactive auctions are booming
Through Margaux Rousset
Published on
Buying your home through an internet auction? It has been possible since the early 2000s. interactive notarial sales (NAV) are increasingly offered by notaries.
Maxime Geffroy, real estate advisor at Caen Lazare Notaires, will put up for interactive sale in a few weeks a studio in the center of Caen (Calvados). “We offer it at 49,000 we hope to get 65,000 euros.” In general, this practice, which can only be offered by notaries, ensures the best deal.
Why is it not strictly speaking an auction?
Interactive real estate is a digital device for collecting acquisition offers via the Internet. “It constitutes a fast and modern means, for a seller of multiple a maximum of possible acquisition offers”, explains the master Frédéric Violeau, notary in Caen. The seller is not bound by these offers. It is therefore not strictly speaking “auction”.
In Caen, Michel Stroppolo, notarial negotiator at D & Associés, carried out four NAVs in 2021 against two in 2020. “Not all properties are necessarily suitable for NAVs. We will often be on atypical properties, houses that receive several purchase proposals or then on institutional properties because the NAV allows a great transparency of the sale. “
How it works ?
The seller determines with his notary the selling value of the property and signs a exclusive sales mandate. It takes nearly eight weeks for the transaction to complete. During these eight weeks, the notarial study gathers all the documents from the file (diagnosis, town planning documents, etc.). They are available on the site real estate.notaries. For buyers, this is the only platform in France to consult offers, and thus register for sales.
“There are no surprises for potential buyers who have all the documents at their disposal,” explains Maître Frédéric Violeau, a notary in Caen.
Advertising broadcasts on the web and in the published paper medium are to publicize the sale. “It can cost the seller between 700 and 800 euros. In general, this sum is largely amortized by the expected gain from the sale, ”specifies Michel Stroppolo.
How is it going on the side of potential buyers?
Potential buyers must establish a file with their payment guarantees, certificate from the bank. Four weeks before the property is put online, physical visits to the accommodation are organized. Viable prospective buyers receive approval to be able to connect to the website during the sale.
D-Day: the stress begins to mount for the prospective buyers. They must connect to the site at a specific time for the opening of the virtual sales room. The sale normally lasts 24 hours. There is a starting price and auction steps determined between the notary and the seller. “For example on a sale, prospective buyers will be able to bid only 3,000 euros each time. This is to avoid ending up with overbids of 500 euros, ”explains Michel Stroppolo. Note that any offer to purchase made in the last four minutes postpones the end of the “auction” by four minutes.
Evolving sales methods
Receiving an offer “upside down” is a more recent sales process than NAVs and is being developed by notaries. “The idea is to start with a very high price and lower the price minute by minute, explains Frédéric Violeau. This decreasing price combines the temptation to wait for the price to drop before clicking, while taking the risk that another user clicks ahead and wins the bet. “
The seller has the last word
Unlike traditional auctions, the buyer with the highest bid is not necessarily the one who wins. “He can choose the candidate who according to him offers the best guarantees of payment and not just the best price”. The transaction then continues as a traditional sale.
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