When it comes to real estate, conventional wisdom is that auction sales are just for desperate sellers or bank-owned properties. But in the past few years, auction platforms have seen a steady increase in the number of homes sold, and far more buyer engagement from owner-occupant consumers.

In fact, online real estate auction sales have increased approximately 25% year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors. They report that more home buyers and sellers are now looking at auctions as they would look at any other type of traditional real estate listing.

Here are four reasons why selling via auction could be the right choice for you.

1. There’s no ceiling in a competitive market

There’s nothing quite like the buyer’s rush inspired by a bidding war, and in a strong seller’s market, the sky’s the limit.  Auctions create competition.  If you’re capturing the market at its height, an auction plays to people’s emotions. And people will often spend a lot more in an auction environment than they would in a negotiated sale.  Buyers in competitive markets, will sometimes turn to the auction method if they’ve had trouble purchasing through traditional real estate listings. Competitive markets increase the buyer bidding pool and increase buyers’ chances of paying more than they wanted.

2. Save time and money in a slow market

Auctions are not only for competitive markets. They can also be helpful in a downturn to sell a house quickly at true market value. In a slow market, it can be difficult to keep up with the trajectory of pricing. If the market is losing 5% value every month, and you’re only decreasing by 2% a month, you’re never going to catch up.  That’s how you end up with houses that linger on the market for five or 10 years — they just never caught up with pricing.  When auctioning a home, you can avoid that lag and ensure your home sells at its true value.

3. An auction attracts serious buyers

Auctions see their fair share of investors with plenty of capital, but lately, auctions capture bids from the everyday house hunter. About 20% of the buyers are owner-occupants, and just as serious about a purchase as the site’s repeat buyers, who are primarily investors.

They are usually trying to do one of two things: Get into a competitive market — which makes them a very serious buyer — or they’re trying to get a home that needs a bit of love or renovation.

To further ensure the auction draws only serious buyers, auction companies require users to undergo a prequalification process before they can bid. Just as holding an in-person auction, the highest bidder is required to provide 10% of the purchase price at the time of sale. This non-refundable deposit helps ensure the sale will go to settlement and weeds out less-serious buyers.

4. You know the exact date your home will sell

Holding on to a property can be costly. Selling your home via auction not only expedites the process because it only takes an average of 45 to 60 days from listing to closing, but the auction method also allows you to know the exact date of sale, so you can budget accordingly.

Sellers can avoid high carrying costs like mortgage payments, taxes, and home maintenance by budgeting for an exact sell-by date rather than listing a home the traditional way and hoping for the best.

 Grab the Auction Opportunity

Across the country, real estate professionals are increasingly turning to the auction as a winning marketing tool. If you properly qualify your situation as a potential auction scenario (we’ll tell you how), you have an excellent chance at turning over a property quickly.

Auctions offer clients and customer’s new options, enhance your image as a full-service professional, expose the property to a wide market of potential buyers, and turn profits for your firm. Plenty of revenue-producing roles are available in the auction process. You don’t have to become an auctioneer to benefit. You can earn a fee as a referring agent/broker, a cooperating agent or a listing agent. However you participate, you’ll add one more marketing weapon to your reserves of professional techniques.