Live Auction Videos
55 Jutland Road – Hauraki
5 Walter Street – Hauraki
26 Pine Ridge Terrace – Takapuna
“Ilse is a well established and trusted agent in the Hauraki area. She lives, breathes and sleeps our Hauraki area in which she operates, and Colin and I hold her in very high esteem. She empathises with all parties concerned, is an excellent listener and people person, and is tolerant of strong debate with some of her clients!! Her marketing skills are so, so professional right down to directing the photographer, suggestions on staging the house, and dealing with the ‘midden issue’. She is easy to deal with. Harcourts are extremely lucky to have her as one of their team. Regarding our wonderful auctioneer Stephen Johnson – wow! What a great job he did. His management of the auction and feedback throughout was exceptionally outstanding. In the end we achieved the record for the sale of properties in the Hauraki area.”
Anne & Colin Andrews
2/23 Jutland Rd – Takapuna
“This was the first time in 37 years that we had sold a residential property. Ilse explained the options and processes involved outlining both advantages and disadvantages. We never felt rushed or pressured into anything we weren’t comfortable with. She gave us practical suggestions for presenting our property and kept us well informed on viewers’ comments throughout. Ilse and the Harcourts team did a sterling job of the marketing and we were more than happy with the final auction price.”
Thelma & Peter Graham
4 Fentham Rd – Takapuna
“Yes, it still hasn’t quite sunk in that it reached that price… and it really did feel like winning lotto! We have some planning to do now… but it’s just wonderful to have options!! Thanks again.”
Gaynor & Kim Eskriett
27 Onepoto Road: A pre-auction offer in the third week of the campaign was accepted by the owner at $1.1 million. The auction was brought forward and sold for $1.325,000.
“Having unexpectedly purchased a property out of Auckland we needed to sell our house in Takapuna quickly. Faced with finding an agent we chose Ilse through a social connection, and have not regretted it. Faced with tight time constraints, Ilse provided practical and invaluable ideas for improving our property in preparation for sale. We were presented with a clear and concise timetable of events, and kept informed at all stages of the process. As we had a long standing holiday booked we left the country confident that Ilse would handle things in our absence. The end result was a fantastic auction outcome, far exceeding our expectations. We would highly recommend Ilse for her professionalism and honesty.”
John & Carolyn Caukwell
“Ilse Evans and Andrew Bruce have asked me to furnish a testimonial/reference with respect to the property recently sold at auction at 14 Byron Avenue, Takapuna.
The property is currently zoned Residential 7 and is situated directly opposite the main entrance to the Spencer on Byron Hotel. All the other properties nearby with the same zoning have been successfully transformed into ‘professional’ type commercial properties. Hence the problem. Commercial by location or Residential by zoning?
It became apparent at my first meeting with Ilse that the marketing focus for this property had to be divided. Ilse Evans would manage the residential side and Andrew Bruce the commercial.
I requested proposals from three real estate companies and focussed on their marketing proposals. I was looking for a company which would provide the trustees with a total, once only solution. Harcourts stood out from the others, offering a marketing package which promised to fully cover the potential market.
That marketing package promised to cover the broadest possible range of both residential and commercial opportunities. There were three liners in the ‘Herald’ classified, 10×2’s elsewhere, entries in the China Weekly, and good internet coverage over several sites. Later in the promotion, Ilse identified a missed opportunity in ‘Property Press’. With her help this loophole was quickly plugged. While I was personally disappointed with some of the advertising prices being charged (probably just out of touch), I recognised that the true marketing value is in the package. Take away a part and the end result will suffer.
With Ilse’s and Andrew’s help, editorial space was secured in both the NZ Herald and the North Shore Times. The property was made out to be ‘special’, warranting the editorial space. Indeed, the North Shore Times followed up the Friday after the auction with a bonus second editorial on page 3 which covered the result of the auction.
The marketing period was four weeks. Possibly a little long?? At one stage Ilse expressed concern that potential bidders were starting to cool down and that she would have to keep on them.
Each week I was provided with a report which detailed all aspects of the marketing effort. On each occasion the report was either discussed with me in person or over the phone.
The trustees agreed that the ‘on-site’ auction proposal in the marketing plan was indeed the most appropriate method.
I was introduced to Andrew North, the auctioneer early on and being new to all of this, I took the opportunity to attend several other auctions he conducted in the weeks prior to ours. I was impressed by the way he seemed to read the bidders’ intentions and was able to continue to invite new bids from the potentials while remaining focussed on the probables. His ability and experience markedly increased the bid on all of those occasions.
So, I thank Harcourts’ Ilse Evans and Andrew Bruce for putting it all together. They oversaw the marketing and made sure everything happened to plan and on time. It is they who made sure that Andrew North had the potentials on auction day. Their efforts saw about 200 people attend the auction among whom were six bidders.
Thank you Andrew North for converting one of those six potential buyers into a purchaser. The result you all produced was one that none of the trustees had dreamed about.”
David Brown