Thursday, September 2, 2010

Conventional selling methods failed one property owner, who is now aiming to sell his apartment to a buyer for just $50

Worried about your rent or hoping to get a better deal from your landlord? Why not move into a four-bedroom apartment in The Greens and only pay a one off price of just $50?

Sounds too good to be true, but a UK-based web site if offering such a deal as part of an online auction.

Recently in Dubai, many auctions failed as there were not enough bids or the bids were considered too low.

So how does this auction work and what makes it different? Bidders apply to the Humraz.com web site and pay a fee of $50 to buy a virtual ‘seat’ in the auction.

The person who wins is the person who bids the lowest unique bid. Everyone could bid one cent but that would not be unique and therefore wouldn’t win. Therefore, there is an element of skill involved.

Each bidder gets 100 chances to make a bid and try to guess the lowest, most unique bid. As more and more seats are sold the price of the entry fee rises, similar to a stock market.

However, Humraz have said that the $50 fee will remain until August 1.

When enough seats have been sold the auction will then take place. Bidders have register and submit payment details, however Humraz do not take any money until the auction has been completed.

“I have looked at it from every angle. We don’t seem to lose as if we don’t get enough people interested the auction doesn’t take place [and] the buyer doesn’t lose as if the auction doesn’t take place they don’t get charged... the winner gets a great deal,” Steve Haligan, the owner of the apartment in The Greens told 7DAYS.

Haligan said the motivation for the sale was due to the fact that he has an ailing mother back in the UK and he and his wife wish to downsize their home and spend more time in the UK. Haligan, who is 50 and works as a HR consultant, has lived in Dubai for 18 years and originally decided to put the property on the market back in October last year.

After trying to sell the property using conventional methods, Haligan then came across the Humraz web site and after researching the process he said he was comfortable to proceed.

“You are looking at a global auction. Our main market to target is the UK and it may take a few months to sell all the seats,” said Haligan.
“Once interest gets going it will snowball. The last afternoon will be quite chaotic. If you’ve ever bought anything on eBay, it gets quite hyper and this is going to be the same.”

No date has yet been set for the auc-tion as it depends on interest and enough bidders registering to take up the virtual seats. It would seem that conventional selling methods have failed Haligan, but it remains to be seen whether unconventional methods will work. For bidders it could mean that someone somewhere in the world will get themselves a one million dollar Dubai property for $50.