Real-life South African-style auctions on TV
The SAIA Board
South Africans will experience the thrill and spills of live property auctions starting on 2 October when KykNet begins a 13-episode series featuring one of the country’s top auctioneers David Souter.
David is the main auctioneer and CEO of Reliance Auctions, a registered auctioneer member of the South African Institute of Auctioneers (SAIA), and is brimming with motivation to showcase the professionalism of the industry and capture the pace, excitement, anticipation and the drama of real-life auctions.
The Afrikaans “Vat Jou Goed en Trek” series, which translates to “Take Your Things and Move” is a novel series which focuses on a single property per show and allows viewers to suggest fixes and upgrades to be performed by the shows professional crew before going under the hammer at a live auction three weeks later.
Drama-filled
“There is a lot at stake for both buyers and sellers and has all the suspense of a good drama in a reality TV package. Cosmetic fixes may make the house pretty on the outside, but what about the Golden Rules of buying property such as location, access to infrastructure, future value, and fit-for-purpose value.
“Obviously, the seller wants to get the most out of the deal, but the real suspense is when bidders begin to unpack the value of the property and start bidding. The question is: Will they correctly value the property, or will they get tangled-up in a bidding war where competition to win trumps everything else?
“From our business point-of-view, the viewers will also get to see how transparent the process is, what the legal requirements are and how easy it is to buy on auction. It will also dispel the myth that auctions are “cloak and dagger” events and show the calibre of properties available and why buying on auction can lead to the property of a buyer’s dreams,” says David.
Top ratings
He explains that one of the company’s auctions featured in an episode of the same show last year and that ratings of that episode had skyrocketed. The quick speed and finality of auctions also provides a new and exciting dimension to the show that usually features the traditional estate agent route. As a result, the producers approached him and the new series was proposed.
“Since marketing and airing of the series begun, we are already experiencing a 200-fold increase in sellers wanting to use our auction platform. We now have a fulltime telemarketer that is dedicated solely to following up on the leads generated from the show. The publicity has been great for us and it is a thrill to feature on digital billboards now even across the country.
“We are sure it will do wonders for us as the show is aired and will show the public how safe and how much fun it is to buy and sell assets on auction – especially when dealing with a professional SAIA member. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic our auctions are still attracting sizeable audiences, and this shows just how popular our live events still are,” David adds.
Valuable coverage
SAIA chairman, John Cowing, says that shows like this one are a welcome relief and indicates the value of professionally conducted auctions. “Our SAIA members have world-class operations and conduct their auctions according to the strict legislation that exists in South Africa, as well as to SAIA’s own requirements.
“To be able to showcase this type of event on television is a great opportunity and we hope it spurs many future programs in future,” he concludes.
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