Arlington Mansion To Go On The Auction Block Next Week - Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, December 11, 2009

Arlington Mansion To Go On The Auction Block Next Week

For a mere $50,000, you, too, can bid on La Maison Des Fontaines, one of Tarrant County’s most luxurious houses, when the property is auctioned Tuesday.

This is by no means a distress sale. Rather, the homeowners say they want to give the auction method a try.

The open-outcry bidding process hasn’t been used much in Dallas-Fort Worth, but multimillion-dollar homes aren’t selling quickly by traditional means, either. The auction is "absolute," meaning that there is no minimum bid and no reserve. The final bid determines its value.

The 9,370-square-foot French modern house at 2712 Mark Twain Court in Arlington is being sold by Michael and Marty Reiswig, who moved into the 3.35-acre estate in 2002.

The Tarrant Appraisal District values the property, near Texas 360 and Green Oaks Boulevard, at $2.6 million.

The property, whose name means "house of fountains," has four bedrooms, six full and two half bathrooms, a stocked pond (with fountains), lighted tennis court, heated swimming pool, library, study, exercise room, two kitchens, a wine cellar, two laundry rooms, elevator, four-car garage, and a workshop and storage area.

The house was designed for entertaining or a big family, Michael Reiswig said. It’s simply become too much house for the professional couple, who both work long hours, he said.

Reiswig is CEO of a Dallas-based home healthcare company, Care Quest, and he and his wife, Marty, are brokers/principals of DFWProperties.net.

"We don’t live in all the rooms now," he said.

They also want to downsize because their daughter, Katy, will graduate from Southern Methodist University in May and plans to attend graduate school outside of Texas, Reiswig said.

The Reiswigs thought that they had sold the house a couple of years ago, but the contract fell through in the 11th hour. It hasn’t been on the market since. Reiswig said he began researching auction companies six months ago and selected Grand Estates Auction Co. in Atlanta.

"Whether the market is a bad market or the market is a good market, the process works," he said. "I believe in the free market. I’m quite confident at the end of the day the house will bring what the house will bring. It won’t be a fire sale."

The auction begins promptly at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the home’s living room, but there are a few minor stipulations.

Those planning to bid need to register by 4 p.m. Monday and must have submitted a $50,000 cashier’s or certified check. The buyer will have to pay 10 percent immediately after the auction and close the deal within 30 days.

About 120 inquiries have come in because the auction’s been advertised in national publications, including Forbes and The Wall Street Journal, since late October.

The couple said they don’t have a new place picked out, but it will be smaller.

"We’ve been decluttering and organizing for the past six months," Michael Reiswig said.