At Grand Estates Auction Company® all of our executives have faced the same decisions that you will have to make about selling your high-end luxury properties. Our CEO, Val DeVine, founded Grand Estates Auction Company® after having experienced the frustrations of trying to sell a multi-million dollar corporate retreat.
At first she tried the traditional listing approach. Having had the experience of poorly qualified lookers, a contract that fell through due to an unqualified buyer, the constant interruption of unscheduled showings, Val decided there had to be a better way. The alternatives of "For Sale by Owner" and / or liquidation were not feasible due to the fact that she already ran a thriving mortgage banking business, time was too precious, and giving away such a valuable asset seemed ridiculous.
Val had overseen the closings of hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate, and had built companies that had been nominated to the Inc. 500, and she wanted to find a company that would produce results. She then contacted a few companies that specialized in "Trophy Properties", went to a couple of their auctions, and left one of them horrified and dismayed when the property not only didn't sell, but the property was covered in the media for several days about questionable selling techniques used by the auction company. The Auction Company was off to their next auction the next day, leaving the poor seller to deal with a very bad situation. Val learned that the way these companies were handling auctions, only a small percentage of the properties they auctioned were ever sold by them, either before, during or after the auction. On their absolute auctions, some sellers were shocked when their properties were unexpectedly sold at less than liquidation value.
With the growth of the Internet, auctions were becoming an acceptable form of marketing everything from A to Z. Could luxury properties be marketed successfully via the auction method, if done correctly?
Val reached out to some of the top people she had worked with over the last 25 years, people who had helped her build industry-leading companies before. People in marketing, advertising, finance, operations, real estate law, tax shelters, accounting, auctioning, the best real estate brokers, web developers and designers, computer technicians and programmers, people who could contribute to building the best luxury home auction company in the business.
Grand Estates Auction Company® was born. The team was in place. She believed so strongly in the team that she was willing to make a multi-million dollar bet on their success. The Corporate Retreat was to go first. And go it did! Two offers came in prior to the auction; the bid on auction day was refused. The day after the auction one more offer came in. Two weeks later an offer for more than they had listed the property for was accepted!
"We learned that if you want to play it safe and not end up in a liquidation situation with an Absolute Auction, then the auction process needs to be an intense 90 day selling cycle, and the cycle doesn't end necessarily on auction day. Other companies are done when the auction is over, but we treat the auction itself as only one day in the cycle, and we keep going until the sale is made. Our marketing staff is still on the job, focused wholly on completing the job, and the job isn't done until we all leave the closing table", states Val.
Our goal is to bring the same success to your property as Val and her other clients have experienced. If you would like to hear how Grand Estates Auction Company® can help you achieve a successful sale for your luxury property contact us today!
Sell Luxury Real Estate | Buy Luxury Real Estate
At first she tried the traditional listing approach. Having had the experience of poorly qualified lookers, a contract that fell through due to an unqualified buyer, the constant interruption of unscheduled showings, Val decided there had to be a better way. The alternatives of "For Sale by Owner" and / or liquidation were not feasible due to the fact that she already ran a thriving mortgage banking business, time was too precious, and giving away such a valuable asset seemed ridiculous.
Val had overseen the closings of hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate, and had built companies that had been nominated to the Inc. 500, and she wanted to find a company that would produce results. She then contacted a few companies that specialized in "Trophy Properties", went to a couple of their auctions, and left one of them horrified and dismayed when the property not only didn't sell, but the property was covered in the media for several days about questionable selling techniques used by the auction company. The Auction Company was off to their next auction the next day, leaving the poor seller to deal with a very bad situation. Val learned that the way these companies were handling auctions, only a small percentage of the properties they auctioned were ever sold by them, either before, during or after the auction. On their absolute auctions, some sellers were shocked when their properties were unexpectedly sold at less than liquidation value.
With the growth of the Internet, auctions were becoming an acceptable form of marketing everything from A to Z. Could luxury properties be marketed successfully via the auction method, if done correctly?
Val reached out to some of the top people she had worked with over the last 25 years, people who had helped her build industry-leading companies before. People in marketing, advertising, finance, operations, real estate law, tax shelters, accounting, auctioning, the best real estate brokers, web developers and designers, computer technicians and programmers, people who could contribute to building the best luxury home auction company in the business.
Grand Estates Auction Company® was born. The team was in place. She believed so strongly in the team that she was willing to make a multi-million dollar bet on their success. The Corporate Retreat was to go first. And go it did! Two offers came in prior to the auction; the bid on auction day was refused. The day after the auction one more offer came in. Two weeks later an offer for more than they had listed the property for was accepted!
"We learned that if you want to play it safe and not end up in a liquidation situation with an Absolute Auction, then the auction process needs to be an intense 90 day selling cycle, and the cycle doesn't end necessarily on auction day. Other companies are done when the auction is over, but we treat the auction itself as only one day in the cycle, and we keep going until the sale is made. Our marketing staff is still on the job, focused wholly on completing the job, and the job isn't done until we all leave the closing table", states Val.
Our goal is to bring the same success to your property as Val and her other clients have experienced. If you would like to hear how Grand Estates Auction Company® can help you achieve a successful sale for your luxury property contact us today!
Sell Luxury Real Estate | Buy Luxury Real Estate
