AgentAuction launch announcement

In brief:

• New Zealanders spend around $1.6 billion a year on commissions yet comparing agents’ fees is very difficult.
• AgentAuction’s unique, free service helps vendors find agents from an unbiased performance ranking.
• AgentAuction also facilitates transparent and competitive quotes for home vendors from up to five agents to so vendors can choose their commission, marketing costs, service level and see home appraisals from an easy comparison.
• Kiwis love a bargain, but hate bargaining. AgentAuction makes negotiating a commission easier so that the agent and vendor can focus on getting the highest price for the property.
• AgentAuction was founded by Wellingtonians. CEO Andreas Heuser draws on his economics, legal and public policy experience, most recently with the NZ Treasury.

In detail:

Real estate commissions amount to around $1.6 billion* a year in New Zealand, so a lot is at stake for vendors. Consumers can compare prices for all manner of goods, but it is very difficult to compare real estate agents and commission - we are still in the 1980s.

AgentAuction changes all that from today.

AgentAuction empowers New Zealand vendors with a free tool to obtain competitive real estate agent commission quotes and home appraisals online.

At AgentAuction.co.nz home vendors can enter in their property address, see the top performing local agents and choose agents to offer them competitive commission quotes for their property. CEO and co-founder Andreas Heuser says this is the first genuinely unbiased, free, real estate agent comparison service in New Zealand.

At the core of the website is an auction system. After submitting property details, AgentAuction facilitates an auction between up to five agents who submit “bids” of competitive commission quotes together with home appraisal assessments tailored to that property - all within three business days. Vendors just need to choose their favoured bidder with no obligation.

“Until now, vendors had to endure lengthy sales pitches where commission rates are always discussed last. There was no easy way to compare proposals or commissions.”

“Kiwis like a fair deal, but hate bargaining. AgentAuction takes away any haggling over fees and preserves the friendly relationship between agent and vendor. Agents can focus on what they’re paid to do: finding buyers and selling the house for the highest price!” says Heuser.

Not only do vendors benefit: AgentAuction helps quality real estate agents find interested vendors, saving them the time, effort and cost of chasing new business. This leaves more time for agents to spend selling houses.

“A lot of time and money is spent by agents on chasing new business. At the end of the day, the vendor is paying for that. AgentAuction frees up agents’ time and creates cost savings, which they can pass on to vendors. Commissions amount to around $1.6 billion a year. Transparency and competition can only benefit all concerned.” says Heuser.

Who is behind AgentAuction:
AgentAuction is the brainchild of economist/lawyer Andreas Heuser and medical doctor Henry Milne. They are driven by a desire to improve outcomes for everyday consumers. CEO Andreas Heuser has a background in economic policy, law and finance, both in New Zealand and Europe, most recently at the New Zealand Treasury.

Heuser says “New Zealand consumers already make great use of comparison websites for power and gas and KiwiSaver. The power of price transparency and competition is enormous and we saw an obvious gap for real estate commissions.”

Feel free to try out the website here: www.agentauction.co.nz
Follow us on Twitter: @AgentAuctionRE

* Estimate (conservative) based on interest.co.nz analysis.

ENDS

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