Prime Property Auctions, one of Scotland’s leading auction houses, is launching a recruitment drive as it prepares for its busiest time of the year.
Winter is generally perceived as the worst time to try to sell a property, with the majority of estate agents advising clients to wait until spring time to go on the market.
Glasgow-based Prime, though, which deals in residential, commercial and land, approach things differently under co-founders Luis Guarin and John Morris, who believe sellers are missing a trick by waiting until the clocks go forward to go on the market.
Now entering its third winter period since being established in 2022, rather than stagnate the company has seen business consistently pick up towards the latter part of the year and into January.
“October through to January have always been big months for us since we started the business, both for listings and sales,” said John Morris.
With that trend expected to continue in the months ahead, the company is scouring the market place for sales negotiators as it prepares for another strong finish to the year.
“We are always looking to hire, but especially at this time of year as we know how busy things will get,” he added. “We here it all the time from estate agents who say never try to sell in winter. But we say ‘why wait?’ Doing that can arguably cost someone a fair amount of money, particularly if the property is lying empty. Storms can cause damage, pipes can freeze then burst causing all sorts of problems
“We see it happen regularly. Owning empty properties, for example an inheritance that someone doesn’t want, during the Scottish winter can be a real burden. Mortgage payments may still need settled, insurance needs paid, there may still be utility bills while all the time there is potential for problems to surface which will need fixed. Owners have to then get it market ready come spring time, which can be another drain on finances.
“At Prime we act quickly and get a fair price for the property in its current condition. Just recently, for example, we sold an empty residential property in the Gallowgate in Glasgow which would have required a full renovation had it gone on the market next spring. We sold it for £50k-plus, more than 10 times what it was listed for.
“We’re finding more and more property owners are thinking along these lines so there is no way we will be winding down as Christmas approaches and will be adding to our staff accordingly if we find the right people who can hit the ground running.”
