Austions are just one avenue to bring buyers and INVESTORS back to the beach!
Auction frenzy continues at Gulf
Sunday, July 27,
2008
By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor
Simply raising a hand could net a 142-acre horse farm or 35
Gulf-front condominium units — if you're the highest
bidder.
It's summertime, and the auctions are hot in Baldwin
County.
Homeowners, developers and, of course, banks are turning to
auction companies to unload property. Some own ers
aren't desperate, but want to sell what they hold
quickly and move to other investments. Others are feeling
the economic pinch of paying interest on unsold lots or see
foreclosure clouds looming over their excess inventory.
There have been successes: Last week, 50 condo units at
Emerald Greens off Alabama 59 in Gulf Shores, adjacent to
Craft Farms, sold at absolute auction for $6,393,750,
according to National Auction Group. There were 86
registered bidders from nine states, plus Kuwait and Canada.
And some not-so-successful ventures: The owners of 2,000
acres along 7 miles of waterfront on Perdido Bay in Lillian
canceled a planned auction when none of the 27 potential
bidders were interested in buying big tracts, according to
National Auction. Instead, the owners sold four tracts
totaling 154 acres, netting $465,300.
Auctioneers say there is demand, giving the example of the
500 bidders who stood in the pouring rain in May to buy 44
condo units at Crystal Tower in Gulf Shores. The absolute
auction brought in more than $13 million.
Many people wanted to buy condos when the market was
bustling but couldn't afford the million-dollar price
tag, according to William Bone, president of National
Auction Group. "A lot more people can pay $300,000,
though, in today's market," he said.
The auctions will slow down when the inventory gets cleaned
up, he said.
In mid-July, there were 2,112 condo units listed for sale
in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan and 1,105 of
those were Gulf-front units, according to the Baldwin County
Multiple Listing Service.
In August, the auction frenzy continues. Sheldon Good &
Company, one of the largest real estate auction firms in the
country, plans to sell 35 units at San Carlos in Gulf
Shores, with 15 of those offered at absolute auction on Aug.
17.
Vision Bank has hired National Auction Group to sell a
variety of its properties in Baldwin County on Aug. 9 at a
mega event in the ballroom of Perdido Resort in Orange
Beach.
Vision's auction includes, among other properties,
beachfront and bayfront lots, five condo units at Sanibel in
Gulf Shores, 42 acres in Fairhope, two homes in Craft Farms,
a Grand Caribbean condo unit in Orange Beach, a horse farm
in Magnolia Springs and 103 lots in Crimson Ridge
subdivision on Baldwin County 8 in Gulf Shores.
"It's the sign of the times," said Joey Ginn,
chief executive officer of Vision Bank, based in Panama
City, Fla. "I don't think there is a bank out
there today that's been in business for the past five
years that does not have some foreclosure properties."
Not all of the properties are foreclosures, he said, adding
that some customers who had properties for sale added
there's to the mix.
"We're not unique to using an auction
company," Ginn said. "Other banks have done it,
maybe not in that market, but here in Florida."
In a normal market, Realtors don't like auctions,
according to Larry Powell of Meyer Real Estate on Fort
Morgan.
But, "in the market we have now, it creates and
generates activity," he said.
"And a good auction sets some values that we as a
market can put our teeth into" when the last couple of
years have yielded few comparable sales to use in pricing.
A true, absolute auction will set the market prices,
according to Chuck Norwood of REMAX of Gulf Shores.
But he said that while an auction is quick, and there have
been some successes, sellers who price their properties
correctly could just as well use a Realtor.
"I've said all along, people with realistic prices
are moving property," Norwood said.
Paula Ingle of Coastal Auction Co. in Gulf Shores said that
her company will tell a seller upfront if the asking price
is unrealistic.
"You have to be truthful," she said.
"Otherwise, everybody has wasted their time and
money."
Sheldon Good rejects a lot of business because of the
seller's pricing, according to Michael Fine, an
executive vice president at the firm's Chicago office.
"We learn what they want and don't believe
it's achievable," he said.
The San Carlos auction will be the first Alabama coast
auction for Sheldon Good. It won't be at the beachfront
site in Gulf Shores, but at the Renaissance Riverview Plaza
Hotel in downtown Mobile.
"The idea is to make the location convenient to the
bidders," Fine said. "We believe the bidders will
come from not only Alabama, but a fairly strong number will
come from the Georgia, Texas and the Atlanta area."
Many could travel on commercial flights to Mobile, and
during the summer, it can be difficult to find a place to
stay the night at the beach, according to Fine.
Having absolute auctions with no minimum bid price is the
key to drawing crowds, especially buyers from out-of-town,
auctioneers say.
"People want to know that if they travel a great
distance, they can be the highest bidder and get it,"
Bone said. "They don't want a pre-set price. But
that doesn't mean properties sell cheap."
©
2008 Press-Register
