Friday, April 6, 2012
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sand Art Auction
The Abal Auction Real Estate crew is accustomed to some of the offbeat questions and comments they receive regarding auctions and appraisals of personal assets. Much of the comments are driven by today’s wave of reality TV such as Storage Auction Shows, Pickers Garage Hunts, and the long running Antiques Roadshow.
When recently approached by a past real estate auction client they were somewhat shocked to see the inherent problems in today’s asset appraisal and valuation.
Well-versed in appraisal work and carrying the National Auctioneers Association’s highest level of certification as Master Personal Property Appraiser and practicing their craft following USPAP standards, the auctioneer/appraisers went to work for their past client.
The client presented the appraisers with 3 small sealed apothecary size bottles which were filled with decorative sand. The client had the bottles “appraised” by a co-worker and had attempted to sell the bottles for $300 at a State agency garage sale. The sale proved to be a no sale and the original “appraiser” offered $200 as a favor - an ethical conflict for a certified, licensed appraiser.
The bottles were delivered to appraisers Dr. Joe Abal and Betty Evans for more research and a possible sale.
The Auctioneers knew on a quick auction results research that the bottles sold quite well in reviewing past national and international auction results. The bottles had provenance back to the 1950’s by the current owner. The “sand art” was collected and sought after by collectors and had a significant, visual attribute – it was old sand.
Today’s sand art is produced by computer programmed machines with much of the product being produced in China.
Auctioneer Betty Evans’ research uncovered some incredible sand artwork done by an early sand artist – Samuel Clemons. Samuel Clemons’ work routinely, when available, sells for thousands of dollars.
In having found a wide spread of values for sand art, the auctioneers advised their client that the best method to determine price was by selling the sand art at the Abal Auction online bidding platform which would give the art national and international exposure.
Given the client’s approval, the auction began by loading the “sand art” on the auction company’s calendars. This immediately gave the art auction coverage across North America. The auctioneers then developed a social media marketing campaign using the best tenets of all the networks available.
The starting bid was set at $10.00. At the end of the first few days the bidding was at $1100.00. The email and Twitter notes started arriving with questions.
After two weeks of marketing, on the final day of auction, the bid stood at $6,000.00. At 9:50 PM with the auction ending at 10:00 PM the auctioneers were home shouting at their respective computers; one more bid please. At 10:00 P.M. the auction did not end.
The Abal Auction end of auction extension is programmed to catch bid snipping programs and extends the auction 5 minutes every time a bid is detected during the last minute. This system is designed to protect the buyer and the seller.
At 10:15 the auction ended with a final hammer of $7,000.00 without buyer’s premium.
The auction company reported that two bidders, one in Virginia and one in Chicago had conducted a last minute bidding war and drove the fair market price to its conclusion.
As stated by Auctioneer and Master Property Appraiser, Betty Evans, the client almost passed out when we handed her the check.
The auction system of marketing, driven by competent certified and licensed USPAP auctioneers had achieved its goal again: putting cash quickly in the hands of a motivated seller.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tallahassee's most prestigious downtown condo goes on the auction block
Tallahassee's most prestigious downtown condo goes on the auction block this month. Being offered at auction is a 1 bedroom,1-1/2 bath condo in the downtown Tennyson Condo located at 121 N. Monroe, Tallahassee, FL.
The unit includes great vistas from the 7th floor balcony which includes views of the downtown chain of City Parks. The unit with it's included secure, covered parking space is within walking distance of the Federal Court Building, the State Capitol and the Leon and City of Tallahassee government and Court buildings.
The auction method of sale is being conducted by Tallahassee / Crawfordville’s Abal Auction Real Estate. The Abal Auction team is offering the condo for auction on it’s online timed bidding platform. The bidding platform can be accessed from the auction company’s website at www.abalauction.com. The website contains a complete bidder information package. The package includes all necessary disclosure documents and contains a PDF of local lenders interested in loaning on the property. Photographs and video information is also available. The auction company has set up a special facebook page to convey information and includes a link to the bidder platform at Facebook.com/abalauction. Quoted regarding the property was Dr. Joe Abal, Fl licensed Auctioneer and Broker, “ what a great property, super location with easy access to a variety of state, local and federal offices and within walking distance of the State Capitol, “ this property lends itself to great convenient city living or a great investment opportunity for the shrewd investor.” Abal further stated, “ some of Tallahassee’s best lunch and dinner restaurants are within a block or two”.
Abal Auction, long known for it’s rigorous bidder package, has the condo’s complete PDF printable file of legal descriptions, homeowners association documents and 100’s of photo on their website. The unit is being sold unfurnished but does include heavy appliances. The interior is done with accent touches of granite and tile. The current owner has used the unit as an investment and leased the unit. The owner has selected the auction method of sale to produce a quick sale without finance contingencies.. Several local lenders have expressed an interest to loan mortgage money on the sale and their information, with contact details, is listed on the disclosure documents.
The Abal team has stressed that the owner is retiring from several business investments and the property is not a distressed sale or foreclosure sale.
Bidding ends October 11th at 10:00 A.M. Additional information can be viewed at Facebook.com/abalauction. The firm’s progressive Facebook page is used for auction listings and updates.
Friday, August 19, 2011
How to Sell a House in 13 Minutes Special by Abal Auction Real Estate
A great number of professionals would have been overwhelmed by a request to quick sell a home in the current housing recession. As Dr. Joe Abal of Abal Auction Real Estate responded “ no problem, let’s get it done”.
The client had a simple request considering 8 months of probate activity in the Leon County, Florida courts had slowed the estate liquidation process which included a parental home.
The client dreaded the fast approaching end of the year tax deadline which included property taxes and the fact that the monthly holding costs for the home included electricity, water, insurance, sewer and water. Monthly maintenance of two households was proving to be a financial hurdle.
The Abal Auction team met with the client and laid out the auction proposal which included no seller’s commission which would automatically increase the seller’s net gain at closing. Also discussed was the auction terms and conditions which the auction company would prepare for the bidder/buyers.
The critical selling point was the Abal Auction team’s list of seller benefits which included:
1.0 Seller pays zero commission.
2.0 Seller knows when property will sell and close.
3.0 The aggressive marketing campaign increases interest and visibility.
4.0 Assurance that the property will be sold at true market value.
5.0 Property is sold ‘as is’, no seller warranties.
6.0 Fast selling time reduces long-term carrying costs.
6.5 Seller is taken out of the negotiation process.
Included in the terms were legal closing conditions that the buyer would pay all costs including taxes, survey, appraisal, and any inspections. As with any auction, there would be no negotiating on conditions. The property was sold ‘as is’ with all faults and no warranties or guarantees.
One of the crucial aspects was having the client specify the type of auction. The auction types came down to Absolute or a Minimum Bid auction. There are Reserve auctions, but the Abal Auction team does not conduct Reserve auctions.
Ironically, reserve auctions produce the worst bidder attendance because buyers/bidders assume the seller doesn’t know what the property is worth and hopes the auction will tell them with a bidder appraisal.
The most attended auctions are Absolute auctions. Absolute auctions begin with no bid. The price is zero and bidders run the bid up to what they believe is fair market value. Hence, the rationale that auctions will always develop fair market value by asking cash buyers to step in front of the podium and bid the property to what they believe is fair market value. The bidder pays the fair market value through his high bid. Of course, if he undervalues a property, the bidder has to assume and be prepared that another bidder could place one bid higher than his bid.
To influence the buyer Abal Auction required the seller, their client, to purchase a complete home inspection by a licensed certified home inspector. This inspection was the topping to the sale and an intricate part of the Abal Auction full disclosure property information package (PIP).
The auction property information package (PIP) included PDF documents which were all downloadable. The PIP included the tax bill, home inspection, photos, property appraiser data, school and local data, survey and a house diagram of approximate square footage. Also supplied to potential bidders was a list with logo’s of participating banks and lenders.
This PIP is where the auctioneer can make or break a sale. As stated by Dr. Abal “we hide nothing, disclose everything, and we encourage a potential buyer to come to inspection with any inspection officials they want – as long as they realize that stated in the terms is the fact the buyer pays for any inspection”.
The key to the auction process is marketing. Abal Auction selected their own bidding platform which is embedded in their website. They augmented this with signs, print medium, e-blasts and press releases. The topper was their web social marketing. The web marketing is something the auctioneers do not discuss outside of their office. A proprietary marketing matrix developed by Abal Auction includes all facets of today’s social networks.
The final item is to market the property for 29 days and then step in front of the live crowd by using the Abal Auction team’s auction partner Proxibid, Inc. to run a webcast auction.
The webcast allows Abal Auction to offer online live bidding in competition with live bidders in the room. Of course, Abal Auction takes pre-bids for 29 days on the website. So by the time the auctioneer steps in front of the crowd and computer, the Abal team pretty much knows where the money is at. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing my job”, stated Abal.
The end result, the house sold in Leon County, Florida, in 13 minutes. It took 9 minutes to read the legal offering statement and 4 minutes to call bids. Two bidders were on the computer, one from Canada and one from South Africa. The eleven bidders in the room were from a cross section of 2 – 3 counties in Florida.
How did the auction seller do? Fantastic!! The Abal auction team exceeded her expectation by $23,000 and her closing costs were $20. dollars because she asked for her funds to be delivered by wire transfer. The funds and closing took place in 5 days. The final metric was that Abal Auction Real Estate sold the house in 29 days and 13 minutes and closed the deal in 5 days.
Dr. Abal stated “we feel we met our client’s needs and provided documented results”.
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