64 | MEDIA Q&A Inez Rix, Direct Auctions
WORDS | Alex Evans
www.opp.org.uk | APRIL 2010
A bid different
Opting to create a new route to market for sellers in Spain in the 90s, Inez Rix talks to OPP about how her auction format has evolved – and why even negative publicity is better than no coverage
Having trained as a mortgage broker and lawyer during her 27 years in the property
business, Inez Rix has rarely let the grass grow under her feet. Starting at 17 in a North London estate agency - that specialised in purchasing portfolios of properties and property development - Inez got her fi rst exposure to auctions in the 80s. “The auctions of old were always
held in central London hotels and their catalogue covered the whole of the UK,” she tells OPP. “They were mainly for trade and not often were individuals present. It’s very diff erent nowadays, changed by the oversupply in the 90s.” Prospering in the manic eighties,
and forced to close her estate agency business in the nineties crash, Inez moved to Marbella in 1995 “as a stop gap before going to Australia” and has since built up the most successful auction business in the Costas. OPP caught up with Inez as she plans an expansion of the auction format into several other countries to talk about
why this type of sales channel is working well.
Why did you decide to launch an auction business in Spain?
With Direct Auctions, I knew from statistics that the majority of buyers were actually fl ippers wanting to sell on and profi t. Suddenly there were a huge amount of urbanizations springing up, meaning supply would outstrip demand and there was going to be a demand for a way of selling these units on - basically a re-run of the late 80s/early 90s that I had lived through. There were no auctions so I decided to launch it to give owners a choice.
You recently announced plans to launch into other countries, which ones and why?
The objective was always to fi nely tune the method in order to roll out worldwide. We are now in Portugal and looking to Cape Verde, Bulgaria,
Opting to create a new route to market for sellers in Spain in the 90s, Inez Rix talks to OPP about how her auction format has evolved – and why even negative media coverage is better than no coverage
America, Dubai and really anywhere we can see that we are needed. We off er licences to individuals or existing real estate businesses who may want to off er another arm to their business, and with 7 years under my belt I have a lot of experience to off er to enable people to avoid a lot of pitfalls, heartache and money.
Before the crunch and problems in Spain, you were partnering on lots of property shows. Any plans to do this again, and why?
We partnered a huge amount of shows, throughout 2005/6 and early 2007, but one has to make hay while the sun shines! It was great publicity and helped to build our brand name. We haven’t any plans to do so, mainly as we haven’t been asked, but I also think the property shows have had
their day. With a few exceptions it’s more showcasing now than a place for people to commit to buy. They’re expensive to hold.
A Place in the Sun’s fi rst auction was cancelled due to low attendance. Why do you think it wasn’t successful?
Timing was certainly one from my point of view; they launched late and these overseas auctions need time for a good lead up. It was too close to Christmas – not many people are thinking of property then. The format was the big factor. I know from experience what needs to be done.
How have you adapted your auction format to increase sales and to engage more attendees?
We aggressively market and are very
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