Estate agent adds on auctions

Local property company Investpro has signed a joint venture with national mega-auctioneers In2Assets, which effectively locks in the Eastern Cape as a new selling territory.

This would massively expand Investpro’s coastal footprint from Port St Johns to George, as well as up to the Free State border.

“An association with Investpro is a win-win for In2Assets,” said Andrew Miller, a director and the chief auctioneer.

“We have the technical knowhow and Investpro has the contacts.”

In the new joint venture’s first auction on Tuesday, attended by nearly 40 people, it registered R27m on six properties.

“We are very happy; it is a tremendous start,” said Investpro principal Dan Taylor.

“We don’t see any conflict between our traditional estate agency business and auctions, in fact they complement one another.

“Certain properties are more suited to auctions, so this gives us flexibility, as well as access to the bigger geographic area.”

Miller said In2Assets had come off a very successful 18 months, with turnover exceeding R1bn.

“Obviously we like the auction concept. To our mind, nothing establishes the real price of a property better than the sound of the hammer at a set time, because that is what a buyer is prepared to pay.”