_________________________________________________________________
> Seller’s Guide to Auctions
> Buyer’s Guide to Auctions
> Realtor’s Guide to Auctions
_________________________________________________________________
More High-end Home Sellers Ringing Auction Bell
Houston Business Journal - by Allison Wollam Tom and Carol Harper spent more than $100,000 in property taxes and upkeep expenses while their sprawling home in the ritzy Sweetwater community sat vacant on the market for three years. After becoming frustrated with their inability to sell the home through a traditional Realtor, the Harpers decided to put the Sugar Land property up for action. "The Realtors were not doing their job," says Tom Harper. "We lowered the price two or three times and still didn't get it sold." The auction attracted 27 bidders, including several high-profile players from the National Basketball Association, and the Harpers closed the $768,000 sale in 30 days. Once viewed as a desperate attempt to get rid of an undesirable home in the event of a foreclosure or bankruptcy, some industry experts say auctions are becoming more popular as the first choice to sell a high-end home.
The total cost of selling a home through auction is about the same as selling through a Realtor…
Winn-Dixie Sells Stores at Auction for $45.6M
Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Joe Rauch
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. sold 102 stores to 30 purchasers at auction Monday, according to information released by the company.
The aggregate purchase price for the store leases and equipment is $45.6 million, and does not include existing inventory at the locations that will be purchased as the stores change ownership…
How to Get More for the Money In a Cooling Housing Market
Strategies for buying a home when the boom is over - By Lauren Baier Kim
Everywhere, homeowners and developers are scrambling as houses take longer to sell -- in July, the number of sales for previously owned homes dropped to their lowest level in two and one-half years and the inventory of houses up for sale was at a record high. At the same time, sales of new homes were down more than 20 percent compared with the same time last year. Last week, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales of existing homes decreased in July at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7 percent, their lowest level in more than three years. Existing-home sales "are likely to flatten in the months ahead," says David Lereah, chief economist for the trade group… With properties taking longer to sell, some homeowners are using alternative selling methods like auction houses… Buying and selling homes through auction is becoming more common,…
REALTOR MAGAZINE
LAW: Auctions, Adversary to Ally - By: Tony A. Isbell Even before the real estate market began to slow, real estate auctions were gaining popularity across the country. Residential property auction sales saw a 39.2 percent increase from 2002 to 2005 — from $10.2 billion to more than $14.2 billion annually, according to a special report published in 2006 by the National Auctioneers Association. Now that residential sales have decelerated, this figure is likely to rise…