Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9407010064
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jim Woltz, owner of Woltz and Associates Inc., introduced the plan to real estate agents Thursday in a seminar that covered topics from agents' commissions to the meaning of auctioneers' chants.
Woltz, who has been in the real estate business since 1973 and licensed as an auctioneer since 1976, said he has procedures in place that make the program "Realtor-friendly" and remove the "buyer beware" aspect of auction purchases.
For example, agents who represent a buyer or seller of auctioned property will share in a 10 percent commission with Woltz's company, and buyers won't have to worry if their property will pass a title inspection.
Title searches will be done and title insurance secured on properties in advance of the auction. There also will be a home warranty program set up, he said.
In addition to being assured a commission, listing agents and their companies will be identified in all promotion of the property, Woltz said.
He said he intends to keep real estate agents in the "spotlight."
"They keep their sign on the property, their lock box on the house. They stay in the promotional loop," he said.
Woltz said he is asking that agents who participate in the program get approval from their companies. He said he doesn't expect all companies to want to be a part of the auction method of selling.
The idea won't appeal to all sellers, either, he added, but he said it could be an advantage for someone with a property that has been on the market for one to two years. It also could work for people who have to sell a property before they can buy; both could be done at the same sale, he said.
Woltz said Crestar Mortgage Corp. and Mortgage Investment Corp. of Roanoke have offered to qualify prospective buyers and that other lenders probably will also.
By qualifying, bidders can come to the sale knowing their limitations and also knowing they have financing in place, he said.
Woltz, who next year will become chairman of the National Association of Realtors' auction committee for professional development, said the auction is reaching more sophisticated levels through the use of on-line computer bidding and satellite hookups that allow items to be bid internationally.
These usually involve commercial properties and livestock, however.
"Residential firms are now catching up to the industry," he said. In the past, most residential auctions have been linked to distress situations such as financial difficulties of an owner or dissolution of an estate.
Woltz said an advantage of an auction for routine residential sales is the sense of urgency created by a short-term intense promotion preceding it and the auctioneer's showmanship during it.
He said his seminars are designed to remove the mystique of the auction format, however, especially that of the chant.
The chant, he explained, is a combination of a series of numbers mixed with "filler words" like "you can't buy it, if you don't bid it" to create a rhythm that generates an air of urgency and excitement.
A second real estate agents' seminar is planned for 9 a.m. Thursday. Seller seminars have been scheduled for July 12 and 19, from 7 to 9 p.m., and buyer workshops will be held Aug. 9, 16 and 23 from 7 to 9 p.m. All will be at Tanglewood Holiday Inn, as will the Aug. 27 auction.
The cutoff for putting properties into auction is July 26. It costs $500 to have a property entered, and Woltz said he can handle from 30 to 60 properties in the all-day sale.
by CNB