Here’s how the Top Team works to bring in top dollar for you.
Here at Murry’s, every auction begins with a talk- often a heart talk- with the family, or with the owners of the business where the auction will be held. We want to know what your property means to you. IT’ s during these talks that facts and feeling can come out – feeling that guide us in presenting your property more sensitively; facts that establish the unique values of your property, and help us out the highest bids.
Our experience has shown that the more up- front attention we pay – to a single piece, a home or farm, an entire, or a corporation’s entire holdings – the greater the rewards will be . . . in terms of the client’ s personal satisfaction as well as in cash proceeds.
Safeguarding your interests
Before we make a commitment to auction your property, we first make sure your business and personal interests are being properly looked after.
– Will the auction proceeds be protected against claims by persons who have no rights to the property?
- Will the proceeds be invested and managed wisely?
– Will the money you earn by auction go to serve the intentions of the property owners and the principles you stand for?
If you have any doubts or concerns on these matters, the time to settle them is before the auction takes place. To help you do this, our firm can recommend attorneys, accountants, and bank trust officers who are sensitive to the special needs of families going to auction, and who are highly knowledgeable in the areas of business property, real estate and personal estate settlements.
Appraisals based on expertise – not guesswork
While nobody can promise how much money a particular piece of property will bring at auction, every piece does have a fair market value. “Appraisal” is the science of establishing these values before the auction, and making sure the bidders appreciate the full value of each property items.
Here at Murry’s, appraisals are often guided by consultations with recognized experts in real estate, antiques, vehicles, coins, stamps, and other specialized fields. This expert input is backed by research in local libraries and museums, plus our own reference library. Perhaps most importantly, we can draw upon than ninety years of experience in dealing face to face with the auction bidders of central Pennsylvania.
Bringing the right bidders to your auction
There could be thirty or more auctions going on at a time in this area . . . all of a them competing for the most serious and the most qualified bidders. To help bring those bidders to your auction, we at Murry’s:
- Describe property items in a way that will be most appealing to potential bidders;
- Photograph, catalogue, and package selected property items in a way that will showcase their value;
- Place ads where the best bidders will see them . . . anywhere from local newspapers, to major city newspapers along the East Coast, to national publications read by people who have a special interest in the items you have to see.
- Send personal invitations to collectors, to dealers, and to bidders who have become close friends of the Murry family over the past four decades.
Before anyone can expect the highest bids, they’ve got to have the right bidders. Brining those bidders to our clients’ auctions has been a central past of our firm’s service offer, ever since 1953.
The gavel is just one step on the way to your top-dollar sell-out.
Personal meeting with the client, to discuss auction terms, and to discover facts that can lead to higher bids and total sell-out.
Safeguarding your interests, by calling in qualified professionals, as needed, before the auction.
Expert appraisal of real estate, collections, business assets, and personal property.
Preparation of the property to showcase your real estate and personal property.
Attracting bidders who are interested in your property and serious about making auction purchases.
Personal invitations to bidders who have become personal friends of our family firm over the years.
Catering to bidders – making sure they feel comfortable, so they can concentrate on their bidding
Cleaning up after the auction. . . putting the property back in at least as good a shape as we found it.
Paying your money- in full – to you, your trustee, or any party you may delegate . . . as quickly as possible.
Making the bidding audience feel glad they came
When bidders do arrive, they’ve got to feel welcome and comfortable . . . just as in a quality department store. This “ Welcome!” feeling doesn’t just happen . . . it’s part of the pre- auction efforts that make up our total- auction service.
For instance, we can help showcase homes, farms and business properties by pointing out minor repairs, painting and other improvements that a property- owner can make . . . and that can make a major difference in the bidding. If you like, we can provide handymen to add these “ extra touches” to your property at a very favorable cost.
We make a special point of displaying furniture and other property items to their best advantage, so bidders can appreciate their value.
We cater to the people who come to your auction. We can arrange for a lunch- wagon to serve food they’ll really enjoy. We can make sure that clean, portable toilet facilities will be on hand. We provide everything from sings and seat and tents, to “runners” who respond quickly to auction bidders’ needs.
Many of the people you can expect to come to your auction will be people who’ve been coming to Murry auction sine 1953 – and have always been glad they’ve come!
An auction isn’t a “sale” - it’s a special relationship
The shouts of the auctioneer do not control an auction; nor does the energetic waving of a gavel stimulate the highest bids. Bidders have their own values – crowds have own “dynamics” – and these cannot be manipulated. All a reputable auctioneer can do is recognize those values . . . gauge the mood of the crowd . . . sense the need for additional information on a particular property item . . . and size up the bidding, item by item, in terms of fair market values.
But possibly the most important contribution any auctioneer can offer, is to appeal to qualified bidders on the basis of relationships that have been built up over the years.
When you have a Murry auction, you enter into perhaps hundreds of these quality relationships. You won’t be dealing with total strangers, but with people who have come to our auctions often in the past, and gone home feeling satisfied instead of “stung.”
It may be true that every auctioneer has some “trick of the trade” to get the highest bids. We have our way . . . but there’s noting “tricky” about it. We respect our bidders – just as we respect the clients who have us hold their auctions. And that lets us offer our clients something unique in this business: the full benefits of four decades worth of relationships built upon mutual respect.
That’s our whole story: There are no hidden charges once we sing a contract, no unpleasant surprises once we give you a commitment. Immediately after the auction we record all transactions, and collect all checks and promissory notes. Our settlement objective is to get things settled; at almost every Murry auction, payment of auction proceeds is made to the client within ten days.