Monthly national live-streamed auctions broadcast from SDL's dedicated auction studio. Daily timed auctions available 365 days a year. An award-winning team with the UK's largest live auction network for residential and commercial property. Rated 5 stars by 86 estate agents on Kerfuffle. NRLA national partnership. The agent referral route is designed so estate agencies add auction capability without adding auction overhead.
Vacant properties, tenanted investment stock, mixed-use buildings, development plots, commercial premises, and probate assets all have one thing in common: they are harder to sell through the conventional private treaty route and they sit on the market longer than they should. The longer they sit the worse your vendor relationship becomes. Auction is not a last resort - it is the right route for a specific type of stock, and it closes faster with a fixed completion timeline that private treaty cannot offer.
Properties that attract little interest in private treaty consume marketing spend, negotiator time, and vendor patience. An auction route for the right stock takes those properties off your books with a fixed completion date - typically 30 days unconditional or 60 days conditional - and replaces a stalling relationship with a completed sale.
Corporate clients, portfolio landlords, and vendors of tenanted investment properties understand auction as a disposal route. If your agency cannot offer it - or cannot offer it credibly - you lose the instruction to a competitor that can. SDL's national reach and live-streamed format gives your agency the auction capability that sophisticated vendors expect.
The conditional (modern method) auction gives buyers 60 days to arrange financing while the seller has certainty of completion. Properties that attract mortgage buyers - not just cash investors - can sell through conditional auction. This significantly expands the pool of stock your auction route can handle beyond purely investment property.
Running your own auction operation requires auctioneers, auction infrastructure, marketing to investor buyers, and legal pack management. A referral model with SDL means you introduce the property, SDL handles the entire auction process, and you receive a referral fee on completion. Auction capability with no auction overhead.
SDL Property Auctions runs the UK's largest live-streamed national property auction, broadcast monthly from a dedicated studio with a live auctioneer at the rostrum. Remote bidders participate online, by phone, or by proxy. Alongside the monthly national events, SDL runs timed auctions on their website every day of the year with 24/7 online bidding. The estate agent referral model is the route through which most agents engage - SDL manages the entire auction process and the referring agent receives a fee on completion.
SDL's national property auction runs monthly, broadcast live from their dedicated studio. A professional auctioneer takes bids from online participants, phone bidders, and proxies simultaneously. The auction is free to watch without registration - meaning buyers nationwide can follow the event. The live format creates competitive bidding on the right stock and a transparent, witnessed sale process.
SDL's timed auction platform operates continuously - buyers can browse lots and place bids online at any time of day on any day of the year. Timed auctions suit properties where the seller wants flexible timing rather than a fixed monthly event date, and where the buyer pool is nationwide and online-first. The timed format is particularly effective for residential investment stock and properties in secondary locations.
SDL offers both unconditional (traditional) and conditional (modern method) auction routes. Unconditional sales exchange contracts immediately on the fall of the hammer with a 30-day completion. Conditional sales give buyers a 60-day period to arrange financing, making SDL's auction accessible to mortgage buyers as well as cash investors. The right method for each property depends on the vendor's requirements and the likely buyer pool.
SDL's auction lots range from vacant residential properties and tenanted investment stock through to building plots, commercial premises, mixed-use buildings, development opportunities, and probate assets. The breadth of property types reflects the national buyer base that SDL's live-streamed format attracts - including residential investors, commercial operators, and developers who specifically use auction as their primary acquisition channel.
SDL provides free, no-obligation auction valuations for vendors. The legal pack - the essential property information required for buyers before the auction - can be compiled by the vendor's solicitor or SDL can recommend a conveyancing partner. Buyers have access to the legal pack before the auction, so the transaction is ready to proceed immediately on a successful bid without delay.
Estate agents who introduce properties to SDL receive a referral fee on completion. The SDL team handles the entire auction process - valuation, legal pack co-ordination, marketing, the auction itself, and post-auction transaction management. Your office introduces the property and the vendor. SDL delivers the auction outcome. The referral model is designed to be simple, transparent, and rewarding for agents who have the right stock for the auction route.
SDL's referral model is designed to be simple for the referring agent - the operational complexity of the auction process sits with SDL, not with your office.
Vacant properties, tenanted investment stock, mixed-use buildings, development land, probate assets, or any property where the vendor wants a fixed completion date and a transparent sale process. SDL's team can advise on suitability for any specific property you have in mind.
SDL provides a free auction valuation for every property referred. The valuation covers both the likely sale price through auction and the recommended reserve price. The vendor understands the auction process, the fees, and the timeline before making any decision to proceed.
From the point the vendor instructs SDL, the auction management is handled by the SDL team. Legal pack co-ordination, property listing, marketing to SDL's national buyer base, and the auction event itself are all managed without requiring further input from your office beyond initial introduction.
When the property completes successfully through auction, the referring agent receives their referral fee. The fee structure is agreed at the point of introduction. SDL's auction process is designed for speed - unconditional completions within 30 days of the auction, conditional completions within 60 days.
SDL Property Auctions is a Propertymark Industry Supplier rated 5 stars by 86 estate agents on Kerfuffle. Kerfuffle and Compare The PropTech members access the SDL agent referral programme through a dedicated route - with your Kerfuffle account manager reviewing the referral structure and commission terms with you before you introduce your first property.
Standard approach
Direct cold approach, no agent support
Kerfuffle & CTP member route
SDL's referral structure for estate agents is discussed and confirmed with your Kerfuffle account manager before you make your first introduction. The SDL team covers the auction process in full for your referred properties - from free valuation through to completion - while your office receives the referral fee without managing any part of the auction workflow.
A call to walk through SDL's auction routes for estate agents - which property types work best, how the live-streamed and timed formats differ, and what the referral fee structure looks like for your volume of suitable stock.
A conversation covering which properties in your current stock and pipeline are auction-suitable, how SDL's live-streamed and timed formats differ, what the conditional and unconditional routes mean for your vendors, and how the referral fee is structured. SDL is rated 5 stars by 86 estate agents on Kerfuffle - the call gives you the context to understand why before you make your first introduction.
SDL's national live-streamed format brings together buyers from across the UK for every auction event. The breadth of property types, the combination of live and timed formats, and the referral model that handles all auction operations on behalf of the referring agent makes SDL the natural auction partner for estate agencies building a complete disposal capability.
PropTech That Pays Back is the Kerfuffle initiative that rewards estate agents with kredits when they use what they have bought. SDL Property Auctions is not on the platform presently. Register your interest below and we will ensure the SDL team is introduced to the programme.
Kerfuffle members get dedicated account management, referral terms reviewed before the first introduction, and access to the UK's most successful live-streamed property auctioneer. Rated 5 stars by 86 estate agents on Kerfuffle.
Want to understand how SDL's auction routes would work for your estate agency stock?
Grab fifteen minutes with the Kerfuffle team. We will walk you through the SDL referral model, the live-streamed and timed auction formats, and what types of stock in your pipeline are best suited to the auction route.
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