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Traditional auctions have long been a cornerstone of the property market, particularly for probate properties. Nick Kalms, Co-Founder and CEO of Probate Auction, emphasises the relevance of traditional auctions. He said:

“Traditional auctions via live stream tick all the necessary boxes. They offer transparency and certainty to the estate while delivering what is arguably the market price for the property, often exceeding expectations.

The usual Estate Agency route is playing a dangerous game with properties requiring a degree of refurbishment or that would be considered as problematic, properties are often undervalued and sold or overvalued and reliant on a series of price reductions before the property is eventually undersold after 4, 5, 6 or what could be 12 months. Many of these properties end up finding their way to auction once purchased and the buyer often a property trader is the beneficiary of these profits at the expense of the Estate/seller.

Offering a probate property under Modern Method doesn’t actually benefit the Estate from a speed perspective because the process is an agreement for sale which still has the potential to collapse after the timed auction has ended, in this instance the buyer is penalised having lost a reservation fee and potentially a buyers fee. Typically the buyer is given 28 days to exchange contracts, 28 days to complete after a 28 day marketing period, of course MM operators don’t publish their figures.”

Unlike traditional auctions, the MMA involves a reservation agreement rather than an immediate exchange of contracts, allowing buyers and sellers more time to complete the transaction. Jamie Cooke, Managing Director, Co-Founder at iamsold, said:

“The introduction of the Modern Method of Auction has offered consumers more choice when it comes to the way they buy and sell property, supported by its key benefits of speed, security, transparency and suiting our growing digital-first expectation of any transaction.”

Cooke points to MMA’s broad applicability across property types and its appeal to younger demographics. He noted that 36% of people would consider using auction to buy property, rising to 57% among digital natives aged 18–34. Kalms critiques MMA for its high fees and perceived lack of transparency:

“In the eyes of all traditional auctioneers, modern method is without question a scam, a fee generating scam. The narrative of auctions is all wrong, its widely believed that auctions are where properties are bought cheap but the reality is very different and many buyers prefer the closure, no gazumping, no chain related transactions and there is a terrific sense of achievement winning a property at auction. Sellers on the other hand are unaware of the key differences unless explained to them, I’m certain MMA will seldom explain the difference but TA will always explain the difference. “

On the other hand, Cooke defends MMA’s consumer focus and said that awareness of auction has continued to grow year-on-year. He continued:

“…and positive experiences help to keep it on the radar for consideration. Our research found that 70% of vendors are now aware of the Modern Method of Auction, and 36% of people would consider using it to buy property.”

Both agree that awareness is critical. Kalms contends sellers are often unaware of the distinctions, while Cooke highlights efforts to educate through FAQs and support teams. Cooke acknowledged the appeal of traditional methods but emphasised MMA’s growing role. He said:

“We find the Modern Method of Auction has a strong uptake for probate properties as vendors are often looking for fast sales with a secure process, as they understandably have a lot of other things to deal with at that time.”

When asked: ‘How do you respond to criticism from the other side?’, Kalms said:

“MMA have very little to criticise traditional about other than perhaps pointing out some have not yet embraced the technology available and what its truly capable of. Traditional auctioneers will stand by the fact that MMA are not auctioneers at all and that it truly is built to generate reservation fees regardless of actual property sales.”