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LEADING THE WAY -
One Year
After Starting New Auction Division,
United Country Leads Industry
January
2008 - AUCTIONEER MAGAZINE
Editor, Steve Baska
Auctioneers Mike Jones, CAI, GPPA, and
Shawn Terrel, CAI, AARE, are helping
United Country Real Estate change the
way the traditional real estate industry
operates. Today this giant real estate
company of 683 offices teaches a blended
approach of considering auctions and
traditional brokerage for every
property.
In
December 2006, Jones was hired as
president to start the new division:
United County Auction Services, and
Terrel was hired as vice president a
month later. United Country Real Estate
& United Country Auction Services is the
largest fully integrated organization of
Auctioneers and real estate
professionals in America.
“It takes
vision and capital to start a division
like this,” Jones said.
In the
first 10 months, Jones and Terrel have
welcomed over 50 veteran Auctioneers
onboard as United Country franchisees
across the country, nearly triple the
projected number anticipated. Among
these are many NAA members and leaders.
When United Country’s traditional
brokers have properties to auction,
Jones and Terrel refer the brokers to
the veteran real estate Auctioneers.
The result
has been a boom in the number of
auctions conducted by United Country
franchisees.
“We
auctioned $86.5 million in property as
of November, 2007, which is only nine
months after our auction division
started. We expect to hit $100million
for the first year, and so far this year
we have evaluated over$532 million in
properties proposed for auction,” said
Terrel.
United
Country (UC) has more than
3,500affiliates and specializes in rural
properties. Only five to 10 percent of
the company’s 683 offices were doing any
auctions before one year ago, and there
was no auction education or marketing to
them. But Jones and Terrel have spent
substantial time teaching these
traditional brokers in regional meetings
about the benefits of auctions. Some
brokers are also attending Texas Auction
Academy, owned by Jones.
“We do
not expect them to instantly become real
estate Auctioneers, but we want them to
understand how Auctioneers think, how to
identify properties for auction,
qualifying buyers and sellers, and how
to network with Auctioneers,” Jones
said.
With
heightened awareness conventional
offices are now considering the auction
method of marketing as a viable solution
to their clients needs.
“We
could not be happier with how business
has gone in 2007, and 2008 should be
even better.”
Terrel said
new programs in 2008 include a
residential and land mortgage program
offered to buyers. “The idea is for
buyers and sellers to have a one-stop
shop in United Country. We can take care
of all their needs,” he said. This will
also include referrals to UC Auctioneers
who can sell an estate’s personal
property, as well as the real estate.
The United Country home warranty program
has already been implemented for selling
homes at auction.
“A home
warranty at auction is something new for
most Auctioneers since we usually sell
in As-Is condition, but the warranty can
provide more confidence and raise the
value of the property,” Jones said.
United
Country Auction Services was not created
as a reaction to the declining real
estate market. Conversely United’s
leadership recognized the auction
method’s increased global acceptance and
wanted to use it as a blended model,
combining auctions and traditional
methods for selling real estate. The
ability to leverage over 60 professional
home office employees and more than 30
field staff gives United Country the
competitive edge needed in today’s ever
changing market place. United Country’s
infra-structure provides their
franchisees with technology support,
marketing solutions, business planning,
training, education, and consulting
services.
Terrel
said the UC franchisees have been
extremely open to the auction method
because many are from rural areas where
farm and livestock auctions have been a
tradition, so adding real estate is a
natural fit. “When you look at the
socio-demographic profile of buyers and
sellers that United Country has been
dealing with for over 82 years, it is
perfectly in line with the same buyers
and sellers we have been dealing with
for years in the auction industry. That
is what made this company the perfect
partner for auctioneers and auction
marketing companies.”
“At first
we were concerned that some of the
traditional brokers would see auctions
as competition, but that was not the
case. In fact, brokers and agents are
looking for a competitive advantage and
new ways to sell property, so they have
been extremely open to learning about
the auction method of marketing.”
“As
United Country continues to expand, we
become further established in urban and
commercial/industrial markets” Terrel
said.
Jones and
Terrel continue educating their brokers
through articles in UC magazines and
publications. A recent article explained
the method and benefits of well executed
multi-parcel auction. The auction
division also recently hired a new
Director of Marketing, Kevin Oldham.
Oldham’s advertising background delivers
cutting edge marketing concepts combined
with a wealth of experience and
education.
FFA
PARTNERSHIP
An important partnership was
recently formed with the Future Farmers
of America (FFA) as UC conducted the
FFA’s annual alumni auction in November
at the 2007 FFA Convention in
Indianapolis, IN. United Country
Auctioneers from across the U.S.
participated in conducting the live
auction fundraising event sponsored by
the FFA Alumni Association. The auction
was a fundraising record for the annual
event, drawing in nearly 850 on-site
bidders and over 40 on-line bidders.
For the
first time, the FFA’s live auction was
broadcast around the world through a
live Internet simulcast. Online buyers
accounted for over 20 percent of the
auction’s total sales.
“We
registered Internet bidders from 22
states and three different countries
(New Zealand, Brazil and Canada) and
received over 220 pre-bids on 57 lots
prior to the auction. The high ticket
item of the night was a 2008 Ford
F-150pickup that sold on-site for
$24,500 with the runner-up bidder being
online,” Terrel said.
AUCTIONEER
FRANCHISEES
Veteran Auctioneers say they are finding
great success with United Country.
Former NAA President Larry J. Theurer,
CAI, GPPA of Wellington, KS said “Last
summer I contacted the owners of a 7,000
acre ranch in Nebraska about selling
their property. The sellers were aware
of United Country and agreed to meet
with me to further discuss the marketing
and selling of the ranch. We were
fortunate to be able to sell their ranch
this past November for 25 percent more
than appraised value. I feel confident
our firm would not have been selected to
sell the ranch had we not been
associated with United Country."
Auctioneer Leroy Hendren, of Jay, OK,
said “I have been in the real estate
auction business for 15 years and joined
United Country approximately 3 years
ago. I was apprehensive at first about
paying a royalty fee to anyone since we
were enjoying a stable auction market in
our area along with what I considered to
be steady and normal growth. But over
the past 3 years since joining United
Country our company has doubled it’s
growth in numbers and in revenue. I
attribute most of this growth to United
Country Auction Services, a working
national network, lead flow, access to
buyers, professional advice, cutting
edge technology, and technical support
in the field. I believe that three major
things have advanced my career in the
auction business, joining the NAA, going
to CAI, and my affiliation with United
Country.”
Mike
Fisher, president and CEO of United
Country - The Redfield Group, of
Alabama, said “I have been in the high
end real estate auction business
since1999 and have looked at several
programs that were attempting to build a
national network of auction
professionals. I can say that, after
years of searching, United Country has
developed the best model to accomplish
just that. Although we market on a
national scale, United Country has added
value that can not be found anywhere
else in our industry. Web traffic of
nearly1,000,000 visits per month,
national advertising of listings, third
party relationships and a database of
over 300,000 profiled buyers has added
tools to our already powerful marketing
campaigns that truly separates us from
any of our competition. United Country
is a very strong organization that is
positioned perfectly to take real estate
auctions to the next level.”
Auctioneer David R. Hudgins CAI, AARE,
of Fairview, TN, said “I conducted
33auctions since May 1st, as United
Country – Hudgins, 13 of those auctions
were United Country referrals. Five of
our auctions had high bidders,
out-of-state, from the United Country
Confidentials list. All of those bid
over the phone during the live auction.
Yesterday, our 113 acre Tennessee farm
sold toa United Country buyer from
Maryland. The back-up bidder was a
United Country buyer from Virginia.
Another bidder drove up from Atlanta, GA
to participate, again from the United
Country Confidentials list.
The
marketing has exceeded all expectations!
Our Dec. 4,Southern Colonial on 50
acres, attracted 4,900 visitors and
inquiries. We had to hire an additional
staff member to manage the inquiries and
replies for our last three auctions. I
cannot even imagine what is ahead for us
in 2008!”
United Country Real Estate and United
Country Auction Services are the only
national real
estate and auction franchise systems
specializing in residential, farm and
ranch, trophy,
commercial and recreational properties
in cities and towns across America.
The company
currently publishes nine niche real
estate magazines and executes a
marketing program that attracts more
than 2.4 million visitors a month to its
725 owned and operated web sites
including 925,000 visitors a month to:
www.unitedcountry.com, the leading real
estate web site in its market. United
Country®
reaches more than 90 million homes each
week through its national advertising
of franchisee-listed properties in
various local, regional and national
print media outlets. With a heritage
that dates back to 1925 and
headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., the
company supports 700 franchisees in 44
states and markets a national database
of properties valued at over $9 billion
at
www.unitedcountry.com.
NATIONAL
HEADQUARTERS
2820 NW Barry Road, Kansas City, MO
64154
816-420-6200 www.unitedcountry.com |
