May 7, 2008
I Went to a Realtor Reunion at a Condo in Gulf Shores and an Auction Broke Out
With the wind howling and the rain blowing sideways we stood for over an hour waiting on the auction that has generated as much interest in real estate as anything I have seen in several months.
Crystal Tower is a condo complex in Gulf Shores on West Beach Blvd. It was completed about a year and a half ago and is unique in that it is built across the street from the beach and has an air conditioned walkover to the beach.
The developer sold a hundred of the 170 units during pre-construction and held back the rest to sell as the market appreciated. This is common practice but the problem was that the market didn’t appreciate so they were stuck with about seventy units that did not sell.
They decided to try an absolute auction. The National Auction Group spent some serious money advertising the event and it was a success. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand people that attended. The auction company printed 300 bidder’s packets and they ran out 30 minutes before the auction started. Auction employees went scurrying around to print out another hundred packets that were handed out until an hour after the auction was supposed start.
I know there had to be at least 100 Realtors there. Some of us were representing clients but many were there to see how much interest there was and the prices these condos in Gulf Shores would command. I’m here to tell you that this was not just a casual interest because most of us got wet.
There were a total of 44 units sold from $275,000 to $346,500. It was estimated that there were 1,000 people in attendance from 20 states. I was told there were multiple large newspaper ads placed in several major cities as well as the Wall Street Journal. I don’t think anyone stole these units but even with the high interest and the number of people bidding, I think most ended up somewhere around market price for the condos in Gulf Shores. $275,000 for the condo plus closing costs plus $15,000 to $20,000 to furnish it and you are in the $300,000 range for a well appointed condominium with nice amenities that should rent nicely.
If you would like to know more about auctions or foreclosures on homes or condos in Gulf Shores, I invite you to give me a call or shoot me an e-mail!
John Ricks
251-978-7118 Cell
866-978-7118 Toll Free
John@JohnRicks.com