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Show Summary
In this conversation, Tim Stuart shares his firsthand experience at a real estate auction, detailing the process and dynamics involved in property sales through auctions. He highlights the roles of auctioneers and the excitement of bidding.
Resources and Links from this show:
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- Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
- Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
- Mike on Facebook
- Mike on Instagram
- Mike on LinkedIn
- Tim Stuart’s Website
- Tim Stuart’s Website
- Tim Stuart’s Phone No: (503) 680-4959
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Tim Stuart (00:00)
Well I actually was helping my wife at an auction and her boss invited us down to a real estate auction and we went down and saw the auction process in the works.They started off selling all the personal property. One o’clock they stopped, the real estate. The lead auctioneer went in, finished up the contract. The backup auctioneer went back in the garage and started selling the rest of the tools. By the end of the day, they had a…
offer to close on the real estate in 30 days. All the personal property was sold and paid for and picked up. just seeing that process in an estate auction, thought with the Baby Boomers coming up, this is going to be ⁓ a good venue and good avenue to go on a real estate auction.
Erika (02:27)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host Erika And today I’m excited to be chatting with Tim Stuart He is an auctioneer and he is a part of Keller Williams Realty Portland Premier. Tim, it’s awesome to have you on the show today.Tim Stuart (02:44)
Thanks, thank you, Erika. Pleasure to be here.Erika (02:47)
So let’s jump on in and hear more about your story. Can you share how you got started in the real estate world, Tim?Tim Stuart (02:55)
Well I actually was helping my wife at an auction and her boss invited us down to a real estate auction and we went down and saw the auction process in the works.They started off selling all the personal property. One o’clock they stopped, the real estate. The lead auctioneer went in, finished up the contract. The backup auctioneer went back in the garage and started selling the rest of the tools. By the end of the day, they had a…
offer to close on the real estate in 30 days. All the personal property was sold and paid for and picked up. just seeing that process in an estate auction, thought with the Baby Boomers coming up, this is going to be ⁓ a good venue and good avenue to go on a real estate auction.
Erika (03:50)
Absolutely. And then, you know, being an auctioneer, was there a moment on your journey as you started to get into it that you knew that you wanted to keep doing this?Tim Stuart (04:00)
I’m sorry, Erika, what was that?Erika (04:02)
was there a moment in your journey as an auctioneer that like you knew that, you know, you really loved doing this and you were gonna keep doing auctioneering.Tim Stuart (04:59)
I think just being able to ⁓ provide a different resource for real estate. I started real estate in 1999 and ⁓ was with ⁓ Prudential Northwest Properties here in Lake Oswego. Three years later I started my own brokerage and that was after ⁓selling a couple of properties at auction. I started the traditional route through Prudential and then started on my own and just kind of haven’t really looked back since. ⁓ Just helping people sell their properties. Sometimes it’s a situation where the properties have some hard times selling it. Sometimes it’s just a situation of the seller. But we seem to get everything put together and get it sold.
get them on their next journey in life and take care of the properties.
Erika (05:56)
Yeah, yeah, Tim, when you are working with people who haven’t been a part of a real estate auction before, what are some common misconceptions that you see that you want to set the record clear on the show today?Tim Stuart (06:09)
Well, the auction method works in several different ways. Some of the highest end automobiles are sold at auction. High end horses, high end ⁓ collectibles are also, the stuff that’s tough to price. ⁓You you can get it at an auction. A lot of times the perception of the ⁓ deal is, I’m going to get something for pennies on the dollar. And the reality is that sometimes you get good deals at the auction. And sometimes they’re fair deals. It’s usually a win-win situation with the seller and the buyer. So that’s what we’re focused on is creating that win-win situation, getting the property sold, and getting the sellers on with their life.
But.
Erika (06:58)
Yeah, whenit comes to your role, how do you set up both parties for success there?
Tim Stuart (07:07)
⁓ It’s an education process. ⁓ Basically we set out all the terms with the seller and so the only thing that we’re doing on auction day is negotiating the price. And so with the buyers…that they get all that information, they get the terms and the conditions, they know when the deposits do, they know when the needs to close, they can get financing if they want to, there’s never a contingency upon financing, so they can get everything ready for their lender if they need to. About 40 % of the properties that we do sell have some type of financing involved.
education of the seller in the whole process. It’s a clean process. A lot of times we’ll do home inspections before the auction so that all the buyers are playing on the same playing field and they have they all know the terms and they feel confident in bidding on the properties.
Erika (08:11)
Yeah, and when it comes to other prep work, do you help attract buyers to these auctions as well?Tim Stuart (08:21)
Yes, we market the properties. We do the due diligence as far as the title. We’ll get a preliminary title report, have that ready, and do some background work on the municipalities, some of the…services and utilities of the property, get a little bit of background. Of course if we have a seller that’s lived in the property, we’ll get a seller’s property disclosure just as you put in a traditional ⁓ manner. But all that’s available to the buyer before we start the auction.
Erika (08:53)
Well, Tim, with all of the experience that you have in the real estate world, having run your own own brokerage, being an auctioneer, I’m sure there’s been a moment where a deal has gone sideways. Maybe you had to totally pivot fast for a client, completely change what you’re doing. Can you share one of those moments on your journey and what you learned from it?Tim Stuart (09:51)
⁓ You know, I’ll share on the buyer’s side and maybe on the seller’s side. On the buyer’s side, ⁓ you know, situations change. Every 30 days, something can be different than it was 30 days ago. You could look at the present climate. like the government shut down. Who would have known that? ⁓ So sometimes those things come into play, situations, health issues. ⁓that can happen. Typically what we do when we conduct an auction in the terms we’ll ask for a deposit.
from the high bidder and that is a deposit on the purchase but it also becomes non-refundable upon the seller’s acceptance. So there’s a little bit of skin in the game with the buyer if they need to back out or if they can’t fulfill their obligations. Typically that’s the only penalty that they’re obligated for. Legally, contractually, that could be a little bit more because they’ve damaged the seller. And the same thing on the seller side.
We don’t typically have any issues. There’s been maybe one time in the last 25 years where a seller just didn’t want to sell. And they’re penalized too because they have a little bit of skin in the game in regards to their marketing for the property and the time they’ve taken and taken up that time of, of course time equals money, right?
in that process and so like I said we don’t very often get you know have things go wrong but sometimes situations you can’t avoid.
Erika (11:31)
Right, right. And you know, with real estate, those relationships are so important. And you you don’t, you know, from the buyer’s end, the seller’s end, you know, you want to build good relationships out of there.For you, Tim, what would you say has made the biggest difference with building relationships in real estate? Were there any networking groups or something in the area that was a game changer for you?
Tim Stuart (11:59)
You know, just meeting with the sellers and being honest up front, you know, giving them as much information as they can to make an educated decision. ⁓ And that usually, you know, makes them feel good about the process, as much information as we can share with them in regards to, you know, how the process works.how it’s clear and transparent. The timelines are already defined with closing and ⁓ deposits and the scheduling of all the items. Typically the title and escrow is the same as a traditional transaction once you conduct the auction and have the high bidder and the seller fully signed.
Erika (12:48)
Yeah, yeah. For our investors who are listening today, Tim, what do you want them to know about real estate auctions?Tim Stuart (12:57)
They’re a viable ⁓ way to buy properties. Every auction is a little bit different. Every auction company treats things a little bit different. Probably the key ⁓ thing to know is that we always offer a marketable title on a property so there won’t be any back liens or ⁓ taxes and what not. If there are, we’ll let you know. ⁓Kind of the bottom line on an investor looking at an auction property, read all the terms. That’s the fine print. Read everything so that you understand it and so you can be educated in making your decision on purchase property or not.
Erika (13:40)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That’s that’s so important. Tim, what would you say is next on the horizon for you with ⁓ all the auctions you’ve got going on?Tim Stuart (13:49)
⁓ One of our goals is to have relationships in all 50 states with other auction companies, with other ⁓ brokers. Typically we refer things back and forth. ⁓ I just got a call this morning on 80 Acres in Port Orford that it’s been on the market for a while and it’s a past relationship of mine from like 20 years ago. ⁓And so just building and keeping those relationships going and open ⁓ is kind of focus on what we’re going through the rest of the year. We should be finishing strong this year. So I’m happy to be with Keller Williams here.
Erika (15:14)
Yeah, yeah, that’s exciting. What’s your plan when it comes to ⁓ networking nationwide with connecting to those brokerages?Tim Stuart (15:24)
Basically, I’m a member of the National Oxygenary Association and I have built relationships over the past 20, 25 years. ⁓ Going to conferences and shows, meeting individuals, ⁓ just keeping in with them. ⁓the 156 acres that we have down in Redding that’s coming up next month. That was a referral from a Colorado ⁓ auctioneer. And so just basically trying to keep in touch with each person ⁓ once a month, try to keep in communications, finding out what’s going on, not always asking for the deal, but just keeping in touch with everybody.
Erika (16:12)
Yeah, yeah, that’s ⁓ so important. Well, Tim, if someone here listening today wants to connect, reach out, maybe they have a property that they are interested in being a part of a real estate auction. What’s the best way for them to reach you?Tim Stuart (16:28)
You can reach me here at Keller Williams. My name is Tim Stuart. So it’s just my name Tim Stuart. T-I-M-S-T-U-A-R-T at k-w dot com or you can reach out at 503-680-4959.Erika (16:45)
show today and sharing your insights and your story in the real estate world.Tim Stuart (16:50)
Thank you, Erika. It pleasure.Erika (16:52)
for our listeners. If you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pro Show. We’ve got more conversations lined up with experts like Tim who are out there building fantastic real estate businesses. We’ll see you on the next episode. -
