Hitting your property for a six at Auction!

While the rest of the world were gearing up for Christmas & New Year – the graduation students of 2003 in Echuca were gearing up for a different kind of event.

It all started back when we were in Yr 12 at school & instead of studying & preparing for exams we were out and about & in most cases frequenting the Dock & the American (The Yank) & there it all began a community of young kids – a matter of fact the “Hot” Community! I still can’t quite pinpoint who the founder of this Hot Community was & where the name actually came from however if you were out at the Dock that year listening to Mick & Ollie play it was quite likely you were part of this Hot Community.

Once school finished and everyone went off in their own directions – the inaugural event the "Hotman Cup" was born. The “Event” that everyone would make an effort to come home to - to continue on the Hot Community spirit.

The Hotman Cup is an annual cricket match between Echuca High and St Joe’s. It isn’t your average cricket match and by no means is it anything like professional cricket. It’s more a game of stamina; last man standing type of game.

The word of the event is becoming more and more widespread with a list of over 60 people attending this year. The tradition has been carried on since 2004 & the event keeps growing every year. The beginning of the festivities starts Friday lunch time, this continues onto the Gala Dinner at the Dock (where it all started), presentation of the team members and then into the much anticipated cricket match on the Saturday. The celebration continues into the wee hours of Sunday Morning and then is usually followed up with a celebratory dinner for the winning team. I don’t know how much bigger this event can get…maybe a street parade next?

In thinking about this Cricket event I have noticed some similarities with Vendors Auctioning their home. The difference between hitting it for a six or going out for a duck…there are some rules that apply to creating a successful auction.

Play to your strengths. Any good cricketing side knows their strength: for the St Joe’s cricket team their strength isn’t so much in their cricketing skills more their drinking skills however they use this to their advantage by hurting the High School boys on Friday night so they are a little seedy going out to play on the Saturday. Pinpoint what it is that is going to make your home appealing to a range of buyers. Is it the location? Is it unique? Is it the price? Make sure you use this within your marketing.

Know your weaknesses - Be prepared for what the bowler is going to throw at the batsman. Buyers are very aware of other properties on the market & will compare your home to others, make sure it’s competitively priced otherwise comments from the buyers will be “I can buy the one around the corner for a lot less”, Or maybe your home isn’t very big - minimise furniture to avoid the comment “it’s too small” – know what it is that they will pick the eyes out of – see if you can try and rectify these issues before it hits the market. Try and eliminate as many strikes as possible as this is what they buyers look for. Get a pest inspection report before you hit the market so that is one less thing the buyer has to worry about.

Set a low reserve – this is a gamble as any game is – it’s like a batsman trying to make that extra run (with the possibility of being run out). If this is done at the start of the campaign the typical progression is that buyers should be everywhere which leads to a more competitive environment and gives you a situation where the buyers can become emotionally involved resulting in a higher price then expected.

If this doesn’t happen the worse case scenario is that your property is sold on the day for the price that you set the reserve at – SOLD is better then it sitting on the market for months and months and you eventually taking the reserve price you set or in many cases lower then the reserve.

If you follow these simple tactics you can hopefully be certain of a century, your property sold or even a St Joseph’s College Victory. Good luck to all Vendors auctioning their property & to the cricketers this Saturday.

Let’s bring home this Hotman cup boys! St Joseph’s 2010