Leading property auctioneer Auction House London has sold a £1m property for its full asking price within seven hours of receiving the instruction to sell it.

The company received a phone call from the seller of the property in Mill Hill at 10 o’clock on Friday morning, and it was sold under auction conditions to one of two interested buyers by 4.30 that afternoon.

Auction House London Auctioneer Andrew Binstock said: “When the owner first got in touch, he said that he wanted us to sell the property in three days – but our next scheduled auction was still several weeks away. Nevertheless, I suggested that we had a huge database of buyers, as well as a large presence online and thought we could help.

“As an auction lot, I would have suggested the right level to take it on at would have been in the region of £850,000-£900,000. But as it was not being treated as an auction instruction, there was no harm in taking the vendor’s valuation as our guide.”

Auction House London was given access to look around the property at 2pm. But rather than simply going along with just one of the auction team to view it, Andrew Binstock sought permission to promote it and conduct an impromptu block viewing for any potential buyers at the same time.

So he sent an urgent newsletter out to his registered buyers for north west London, uploaded the details to the website and all relevant portals, and spent the next three hours drumming up interest, By the time one of the team was on his way to see the property at 2pm, he was being joined by a dozen potential buyers.

Andrew Binstock explained: “My employee made it very clear to all those on site that best offers would be invited as soon as the viewing was over. Whilst for most of the parties there, the house was not quite right or a priced a little beyond their own valuation, two of the viewers were seriously interested. After discreet discussions with both, one of them was willing to proceed at the full £1m asking price.”

The seller’s solicitor had prepared a legal pack during the previous couple of hours, which was forwarded to the buyer’s solicitor. By 4pm, questions from the buyer’s solicitor had been satisfactorily answered, and within half an hour the buyer was happy and ready to put down his deposit.

Andrew Binstock added: “Not only had the vendor achieved a sale in 7 hours, but he had exchanged at the same price that he had been told by local estate agents his house was worth. No discount necessary.

“Of course, I am not saying that we could reproduce that kind of result every time we are asked, but it does show that property auctioneers are not just about yelling numbers at people in glamorous hotel ballrooms. We also have the ability to find buyers at very short notice and conduct quick, professional, legally-binding sales at the very best prices when required to do so.” ​