by Dr. Iain
Corness
In
three months MGI auctioneers have taken Pattaya by storm. The man behind
it is a fast-talking American, Mel Giller (the MG, of MGI, with I being
International). He is a man who admits to being “born on the streets of
Boston,” states “I have the perfect voice for an auctioneer,” and in
the same breath says, “I plan to live forever!” After an hour with
Mel, if enthusiasm for life is anything to go by, he probably will!
Mel was born in Boston in the US. His father was a
truck driver, “I come from a genuine blue collar background.”
He went to public schools in the area and described
himself as a fair student, “I never worked hard but I always got decent
grades.” When he was finishing school, it was still WWII and Mel decided
to enlist, so that he could pick his own area in the military, rather than
be drafted. He chose the Marines. “I just liked the way they looked. I
saw a poster on the way home, so I walked in and enlisted!”
He spent three years with the Marines and saw action in
the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, his unit receiving a Presidential
citation. “There’s great esprit de corps in the Marines, even with old
Marines,” said Mel, who regretted none of his time in service, even the
“13 weeks of hell in boot camp.”
On his return to the US, he resumed his education, and
spent the next two years in college but failed to complete his course.
“I wanted to make some money, so I was a college dropout,” said Mel.
“I found I was good at sales and had marketing skills, so I found my way
to Florida and into real estate.”
He was successful, with much of it being his ability to
gage the market. “I was a good salesman. People will tell you what they
want, and I learned to listen.” He cited the fact that in Florida all
houses were painted white, so Mel painted his in all kinds of pastel
shades. “I could see the flaws in the way things were being done.” He
also branched out into becoming a developer and builder himself, using the
‘nose’ that he had for marketing, in finding out just what people
really wanted. I suggested to Mel that he must have been able to raise
much finance to be able to do this and he smiled, saying, “I’m pretty
good at collecting money!”
By this stage it was 1974 and against all the accepted
‘knowledge’ at that time, Mel became interested in auctions for the
real estate business. In America there was a social stigma hanging over
auctions, as the only property to be sold that way was distressed stock
being offered by banks and financial institutions. “I read an article
that 50 percent of real estate sales in Australia were done that way, so I
went to Sydney, Australia and observed the auctions there.”
The method looked promising, but there was something
basically wrong, from Mel’s point of view. “If they can sell one (by
auction), why not 10, or 20, or 50?”
Continuing with his search for the ‘holy grail’ of
real estate he went to Christies in London, the famous auction house. This
is the institution most likely to sell the Holy Grail, if they ever find
it! He discussed the auction concept with them, since all the great
treasures of the world are sold that way.
He returned to America convinced he had the right idea.
“It was 1974 and my team looked at me as if I’d grown a second
head,” said Mel. However, despite all the doomsayers, Mel went ahead
with the auction idea; however, he made the stipulation that he would only
work with the clients, and accept no distressed stock from the banks or
finance houses.
It was no instant success, but Mel persevered. He gave
a lecture to others in the real estate business, but it seemed his words
were falling on deaf ears. “Auctions? You’d have thought I was
bringing the bubonic plague,” said Mel. However, one man in the audience
did listen and contacted Mel to sell some family properties in Newport
Beach in California. The auction was a success, and Mel started to make
inroads into the business previously not available for auction.
His next auction was for a developer who was having
problems selling his properties individually, and contacted Mel. This man
had 197 properties and Mel knew that this was an important watershed for
his auctioneering career. Using his marketing skills, he promoted the
event, erecting a tent on the property, employing a band, supplying food
and advertising the auction. He sold the lot. Or perhaps better explained
as he sold all the lots!
It was after this that the business really took off.
The story had been picked up by the wire service and suddenly he was
receiving calls from all over America. Single handedly Mel Giller had
changed America’s attitude to real estate auctions. And almost
overnight, he became the prime marketing organization for real estate in
the US.
In turn that took him to Europe, where the entrenched
establishment told him, “Your cowboy type of auctions will never work
here.” They were wrong, and Mel still smiles at the memory of the
successes he had in Europe.
News of the successes over the following years were not
just restricted to America and Europe and in 1998 Mel was contacted by a
group in Hong Kong, asking him to come over, with his expertise, to help
the post economic crash real estate market in Asia.
Mel came over and decided to base himself in Thailand,
and he is still here, despite the well established players in Thailand
telling him that it wouldn’t work here either. They too were wrong.
Mel Giller says, “It’s been an exciting life, associating with
incredible people.” And Mel, you are one of them!
