Tonight witnessed the inaugural auction of newly launched ibidcondo.com - an online real estate auction company.  Star Riverside unit #104 sold tonight for $86,840 by online real estate auction. The list price was $690,000. There was NO reserve. Bidders had to pay a $100 seat fee to participate.  The seat fee covers the sellers cost of the property.  The bulk of the auction proceeds is donated to a charity of Buyer's choosing.

I bought a seat and bid in the auction.  It lasted 25 minutes. The first 5 minutes took forever for the price to get higher because the bid increment was only $10. After 5 minutes, the bid increment increased to $100. And in the final 10 minutes, the bid increment was $1,000.  I lost out by $2,000.  The buyer has 48 hours to sign the sales contract and pay cash.

The company has posted its upcoming auctions for other units in the same complex - to be built early 2010. This is a tremendous opportunity/deal - even a "steal" I'd add.

Linda Mardi
AuctionFirst.com

Sellers Pay Attention:

Most people think that auction buyers are all investors, but that's not true.  Seventy percent (70%) of the residential real estate that we sell at auction are bought by end users.  Even in today's market, we see the end users buying at auction.  

HOWEVER, the property always stands on its own at the end of the day.  Real estate auctioneers specialize in accelerated marketing, have a big budget to work with, and target likely buyer pools. It's not unusual for an auction marketing plan to require 200 - 300 hours over 4 to 6 week period to execute the plan! Lots of work.

OK - that's all background information for this next part:

In today's Austin real estate market, buyers want ready-to-move-into upgraded/blinged out homes. It is easier to find an end user buyer for a really great home than it is to find for a fixer-upper.  Buyers are willing to pay more if the home has more features, upgrades, bling, etc.

Case in point:

I recently auctioned a 5,000 sf executive home in an upscale neighborhood that sits on an awesome part of an award-winning golf course.  We spent 4 weeks marketing the property aggressively.  Many real estate agents work this subdivision. The market has slowed significantly, however there are still sales going on. Rate reductions - a bit. What I really saw during this marketing period is that buyers weren't looking for a "deal" as much as they are looking for their dream home with all of the bells and whistles.  They are going to carry only one mortgage, live in one home - so they want that home to have everything ready to go. No fixing up.

I recently had lunch with a broker friend who works the SO-CO area. He confirmed that his nicer/prettier listings are selling much faster than his fixer-uppers or ugly properties.

If you are selling your home, this is good and bad news.  Because the question is - how much $ do you put into getting your home ready to sell?  I've always advised clients of a 2x1 rules.  Spend only when you know that you'll get $2 back for every $1 you put in.  But in today's market, you may need to spend that $1 in order to sell the property even if that means your $1 gets 50 cents.  The fact is, that those improvement in today's market are your ticket to entry to sell. Make wise choices, consult or hire an expert to advise you on what needs to be done, stay away from too much personal taste, go with decisions that have more general and broad appeal.

Linda Mardi
AuctionFirst.com - Accelerated marketing of real estate thru auction.

I attended today's auction of 19 Brazos Condos in Austin TX.  Real estate auction company Kennedy Wilson today auctioned 19 units in under 2 hours.  Although all of the units had very low starting bids, the auctioneer explained at the begining of the auction that the units had unpublished reserves and that to win the bid, the highest bid had to meet or exceed the unpublished reserves.

The auction was extremely well attended, with over 200 packed into the Hilton downtown hotel ballroom. It appeared that many of the bidders had pre-registered with the company - streamlining their entrance into the ballroom.  Only registered bidders were allowed inside.

The auction itself was well paced. The auctioneer did a great job of explaining how the bidding would work and how he would gradually lower the increments, from $25,000 down to not less than $1,000.  The bid assistants also did a great job of maintaining lively interest and tracking the various bidders with loud "yeps" as someone bid a higher increment.

As the bidding proceeded, the auctioneer would announce when the unpublished reserve had been met and that the unit would then be sold to the highest bidder, no longer subject to seller's confirmation.  All but one unit was announced sold. There was only one unit that did not meet the reserve and was sold subject to seller's confirmation.

This was a great auction to watch!  However, as a real estate auctioneer myself, I can tell you that the critical and most important aspect of the auction is the marketing program.  This auction was well marketed - read about it, heard about everywhere - plus it gots tons of tv news and media exposure.  Additionally, the auction company and builder were able to maintain a sales office open 7 days a week with models available to walk thru. This auction had great participation for several reasons:  (1) well marketed; (2) great product; and (3) minimum bids, even though meaningless, help grab attention; and (4) extremely well executed auction logistics/strategy.

What a great way to buy!  Terms and conditions were transparent, the only thing the buyer needed to do was figure out how much he/she wanted to pay maximum, figure out their financing, and then get a $2500 certified check per property they wanted to buy.  A 4% buyers  premium will be added to each high bid to total the sales price. Buyers have 30 days to close escrow.  Final sales prices were between 20-40% less than the last sales price.

What a great way to sell!  Auctions present an ideal opportunity for builders, especially condo builders who have financing considerations tied to the number of unsold units remaining.

I've traveled the country attending real estate auctions from some of the best auction companies. This was my first Kennedy-Wilson auction - a California based company that holds real estate auctions across the country. I was impressed with Wilson-Kennedy's auction logistics today. Their auction team and staff appeared top notch and experienced.  The auctioneer did a fabulous job! So often, I'm embarrassed by what I find to be old-school auctioneers that engage in non-appreciated humor or just a bit too much 'country' inappropriate for more upscale / commercial property auctions. Registration flowed smoothly, thanks in large part to pre-registration packets available, and the contract signing room also appeared to run smoothly, with Heritage Title assisting with contracts.

Linda Mardi, Auctioneer/Broker/Attorney
www.AuctionFirst.com
Specializing in accelerated marketing of real estate sales thru auction. Sell your property in 30 days - ask us how.

Open House this Sunday January 18 from 3-4pm.  Live onsite auction will be held on Saturday March 7 at 10am. There is no reserve for this property. The retired sellers have relocated out of state and are selling their home to the highest bidder at auction. The property is owned outright and is free of liens. Here's your chance to own a beautiful executive home located on the 3rd Tee Box of Forest Creek Golf Course in Round Rock TX. Name your price.

Address: 2147 Hilton Head Drive, Round Rock TX 78664

Apx 4,977 sf: 4 BR, 3.5 BA, 3 living areas, 2 dining areas, office, huge master suite with separate exercise or nursery room along with separate his/her walk in closets with adjacent walk-in attic storage. Vacant and move-in ready condition.

For 360 photos and floorplan visit url:  http://www.floorplanhost.com/2147hiltonhead/

Visit the open house Sunday January 18th or call for an appointment to preview/inspect the property. Download a free property bid package from www.AuctionFirst.com. Subject to prior sale. 10% buyer premium. Auctioneer Linda Mardi TDLR 16028. AuctionFirst (800) 498-9428.

In the last 6 weeks there have been numerous articles in major publications about the impact of the current economy on today's downsizing senior citizens.  Wallstreet Journal, NY Times, NPR radio to name a few - have all hilited this issue.  Senior citizens who have decided to move into senior citizen communities, assisted living and other downsizing scenarios have had to cancel these plan because of their inability to sell their homes in todays market. Many homes having been on the market for months or over a year.  Those businesses supporting this niche market have also suffered by the increase in cancelled contracts and vacancy rates.

Is there a solution?  YES

Auctions represent a perfect solution for these particular members of society who may be more motivated by a timeline and being able to manage their transition rather than rely on when a buyer may decide to make an offer.  Auctions are date driven sales.  They allow the owner to have complete control over the timeline of their transition plans.  As for the market price?  Well, you and I know that the buyers determine the market value regardless of whether it's an auction or conventional listing.  The auction process simply accelerates the marketing attention, draws particular attention to the property and brings a sale conclusion in 4-6 weeks.

We recently signed an auction listing from a typical client in this scenario. When his wife fell ill, our client and his wife decided to downsize from their 5,000 sf golf course home and move closer to their children in another state. Their home will be sold to the highest buyer without reserve - this means that we'll be able to maximize the market value for him and get immediate attention in a market that is saturated with other executive homes for sale that have been sitting on the market for 12+ months.  In addition, they are donating all of their remaining personal property to a local charity. Our auction services provide full servicing and we'll be able to maximize the value of those items and present a handsome check to the charity instead of the actual personal property items - saving the charity headache from figuring out how to turn those items into cash.

Linda Mardi, President
AuctionFirst.com

AuctionFirst specializes in the auction marketing method of selling real estate and providing full service offerings to senior citizens in transition.

AUSTIN TEXAS -

Great media coverage in what was Home Auction Live!'s inaugural auction for Austin Texas. The below link is to coverage from Austin TV news KXAN who brought their news crew to cover the auction.  In all, over 16 properties were offered for sale at the auction, about 120 in attendance. 10 of the properties were referred by local realtors who either referred the properties or co-brokered wtih Home Auction Live.  Also is a link to Friday's pre-auction coverage by Olga Campos of KVUE.

http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7951131
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/022808kvuehomeauctions-cb.7ba35be.html

Linda Mardi, AuctionFirst