Have you noticed that it's much more common in other states to sell a house by auction? The property programs on television often use the drama of the auction setting to tantalise viewers, it's good TV. In Western Australia, we still have auctions, but far less frequently. The most popular form of selling here is by Private Treaty. So what's behind this - why is WA different?
In most other states of Australia, a Private Treaty sale by law has to include a cooling off period - a number of days where the buyer can withdraw from the sale with little or no penalty. However, if a property is sold by Auction, there is no cooling off period. So sellers and agents can see a clear advantage to the Auction pathway.
But the difference in Western Australia is this: there is NO COOLING OFF PERIOD for a Private Treaty Sale. The same applies to Auctions, no cooling off period. So, here in WA, there is no driving force to go to auction like there is over East, and the perception in the industry here is that the Private Treaty sale method is highly effective at extracting good offers anyway. Some properties lend themselves to Auction naturally, such as when their uniqueness make them hard to pinpoint a likely selling price. In that situation - go to auction and let market forces have their say.
