NCW Real Estate Blog

Last week there were two real estate auctions in Wenatchee.  A developer auction for a 37 acre parcel May 29th with preliminary plat pending and 9 homes being auctioned by a builder to close out two projects on May 31.

So, how did they go.  I asked Paul Thomas of Northwest Auctions to give me his summary of the builder auction.  Here’s what he had to say:

Overall, the seller feels that our May 31st Builder Liquidation Auction was a success. The auction marketing campaign produced tremendous exposure and visibility for his properties and four were sold in advance of the auction using the Buy Now program. Though none of the five high bids on auction day were high enough to be accepted by the seller, he is now in negotiations with the high bidders and with other interested parties in hopes of generating sales for the five remaining properties.  

From our perspective, we are also pleased with the results from the Buy Now program but auction day activity was considerably below our expectations. Though our web site traffic was exceptionally high before the auction, we had fewer attendees and much more subdued bidding than we expected.  

Even with 20-20 hindsight, it is impossible to tell whether the results of the auction were a result of a recent change in the Wenatchee market, bidder uncertainty about the auction process, bidder discomfort with the universally discouraging media portrayals of the current real estate market throughout the country or bidder unease regarding the increased difficulty of obtaining financing for a real estate purchase, whether at auction or via conventional sale. Most likely, each of these factors contributed to the results we saw on Saturday and we may never know for sure which had the most impact on the auction.  

One thing is certain; people paid attention to this auction! Our web site had over 140,000 hits regarding the auction during the four week marketing campaign- a new record for our company. Many people were aware of the auction- the seller even reported that complete strangers wished him good luck in the weeks leading up to the auction!  

To generate this sort of exposure for the properties is an extraordinary result, whether of an auction marketing campaign or any other sort of marketing effort. Hopefully, we will soon be able to announce that all of the nine properties were sold.  

I had a similar story on the developer auction, which was done by my company, Criterion Properties in conjunction with Selequity Auctions.  I am also the seller of that property.

We had an absolute auction scheduled.  We only had two registered bidders at auction time.  The terms allow the seller the option of cancelling the auction up to the time the auctioneer starts calling bids.  So, I cancelled the absolute auction and am in negotiations with both bidders who are genuinely interested and qualified buyers.

I have also had several more inquiries since the auction.  We also generated a tremendous amount of exposure for the property.  My expectation is that a contract will be written on the property in the next few weeks.

So, the stories are similar.  The Wenatchee market, while showing great interest in the process, did not generate the hoped for bidders for the auctions.  However, in both cases strong interest was generated from the marketing and qualified buyers have been brought to the seller and sales have been generated.

Also the sellers, in both cases, had the ability to manage the process and have sufficient control to make sure their interests were protected.  Qualified buyers have been brought to the seller.  As one of the sellers, I am happy with the outcome.  Just wait until we have one of these in a hotter market and see what happens!

Tags: General Interest, Local //