The Great Southern Call

Sue Douglas is the owner of the Sue Douglas Group, incorporating three thriving South Auckland branches – Manurewa, Takanini and Drury, she is a founding member of Ray White in New Zealand, a visionary and proven industry leader. She believes that to make any difference at all you have to be ahead of the pack, anticipating changes and putting in strategies to ensure that the property market remains accessible to everyone.

Cue “The Great Southern Call”, a auction extravaganza for home buyers and sellers in South Auckland. Sue wanted to create an environment which would showcase peoples homes to a larger audience of serious buyers with established pre-approval, which raises more hands in the room. “Its about creating excitement and momentum for all the parties, it’s open and transparent – just you and the auctioneer can see what the competition is.”

The concept was designed to streamline the auction process to get the absolute best outcome for both parties. “We don’t just ‘do’ auctions. Ray White is an internationally recognised company, and for good reason. We pioneered auctions in 1902, and we have been perfecting them ever since.” In that pioneering spirit, Sue set herself a goal to provide South Auckland with the finest auction services in the southern districts. The result? Ray White South Auckland Premier Auction Centre in Takanini. “The need for expertise in this climate is greater now”comments Sue. “With so much competition, your best advantage is to have an agency with experience and enduring reputation. It only takes one auction to realise the difference that knowledable advisors make to your end result”.

Consequently, Sue has focused strongly on attracting people who have extensive auction experience, even hiring a permanent in-house Auction specialist. Responsible for training and coaching staff across the three branches. The other key players complete a formidable team, who will all be present to offer their collective skill.

Putting Sue to the test with the following question “How would you respond to people who might say such an event just adds more frenzy to a potentially softening market?” she replied easily. “Auction is an internationally recognized sale method which brings together serious sellers and serious buyers. When the market slows, the result is an increased number of days on the market. This leads to an increased number of properties on the market and a lower number of serious buyers with more choice. That’s not the greatest situation for anyone who wants to get the best price for their asset, or buy the right house in a reasonable timeframe.” Sue is adamant that if you have serious buyers and serious sellers, then auction is the best way to connect them and get a successful result. “In a fast moving market, auction creates open and transparent competition which gives both buyers and sellers the confidence they need to move forward.”

With increased lending restrictions on first home buyers and investors, plus apprehension over interest rates, Sue says their collaboration with Loan Market is of significant advantage. Once of the biggest mortgage brokers in Australasia, they have the largest network of banks, plus smaller and second tier lenders. More borrowing power allows them to pre-approve buyers to their maximum, meaning more choice in range of affordable properties. Sue adds “Banks are not all equal, and though you might think you that lending restrictions have increased across the board, many banks are still lending 90% to first home buyers!

The Great Southern Call is a property auction event to surpass all others, offering an unbeatable opportunity to reach the most number of buyers active in the market, alongside a highly experienced team with the determination to make the auction journey the very best. Sounds like a win-win.