Feb 24 Tampa Auction Results

[SHELLY]

Homes hit the auction block
An unusual auction draws bidders to the Seminole Hard Rock.
By EMILY NIPPS
Published February 25, 2007

TAMPA - Inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, thousands of slot machines jingled loudly over the blare of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.

Straight-faced men and women sat hunched over hands of Texas Hold 'Em. Cigar smoke drifted around patrons at the center bar.

It seemed like an odd place to shop for a home. Yet about 250 curious guests gathered in the casino ballroom Saturday and had the chance to bid on an array of Florida properties while sipping free cocktails and eating hors d' oeuvres. Some watched online.

Within a few hours, the "All In Mega Auction" was over, and 26 of the 46 properties had winning offers. Judging by some of the offers, it appeared that the festive casino setting and large turnout didn't do much to offset the current buyer's market.

The winning bid on a three-bedroom Sarasota home? $50,000.

An 1,800-square-foot Bradenton home with a pool? $100,000.

A two-bedroom house in West Palm Beach's historic Flamingo Park? $115,000.

"The deals here are surreal; it's so hard to believe it," said Joey Anderson, a 22-year-old Tampa man who recently began investing in real estate.

It was Anderson's first time at a property auction, and he took his chance: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-car garage home on Clearwater's Coronet Lane. After competing with a few others in the ballroom, he won with an offer of $195,000.

It was unclear Saturday how many sellers would accept the offers, since none were obligated to do so.

Angelina Lochridge, who hoped to sell her parents' home in Valrico and watched the live bidding online, was disappointed with the top offer of $235,000. The home was originally listed at $324,000.

"I think we'll look into doing a lease option or renting," she said. "We're not going to sell at a loss. I seriously don't think a lot of those homeowners are going to sell at those prices."

Yet winning bidders like Steve Ward were optimistic. The Land O'Lakes real estate broker came to the auction with no intention of buying. Then he saw a six-bedroom New Tampa home flash across the large projector screen and found himself in a bidding war. He won at $215,000.

"I could sell that all day for $375,000," he said, though he knew it wasn't a sale yet. "I'll be more excited when it closes."

The event was the brainchild of Jay Bailey, who owns Bailey's Realty & Estate Auctions and served as the auctioneer. Before Saturday, he said he expected 400 people or more and a frenzy of bidding. He also predicted that such "mega-auctions" will be the wave of the future.

Although the event might have fallen short of those expectations, some sellers did get reasonable offers that might result in sales.

A three-bedroom home in Sarasota received a winning bid of $410,000. A Tampa couple looking to buy a 758-square-foot house near a canal in Hudson thought their $105,000 offer was fair and waited around the casino for the seller's answer.

"We're hoping," Jackie Henderson said. She felt like some of the other offers were ridiculous.

"There's no way the sellers are going to accept some of those."


AUCTION FACTS

Bids below prices

Here are some of the homes up for sale in Saturday's All In Mega Auction, along with their most recent sales prices and highest bid offers.

TAMPA

10540 Lucaya Drive: In New Tampa's Heritage Isles, the two-story home has six bedrooms, three bathrooms and is on a cul-de-sac.

Sales price in October 2005: $365,700

High bid: $215,000

VALRICO

4106 Robin Way: Brick home has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage, about 2,300 square feet.

Sales price in May 2006: $270,000

High bid: $235,000

NEW PORT RICHEY

6151 Seaside Drive: Waterfront home in Gulf Harbor, has a boat lift, heated pool and spa, a fireplace and a security system with four cameras.

Sales price in August 2003: $135,000 (Listing says property was recently appraised at $840,000.)

High bid: $405,000

[Babyblue]

And the point of this? Tampa?

[bdc63]

Homes hit the auction block

TAMPA - Inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, thousands of slot machines jingled loudly over the blare of Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer.... Yet about 250 curious guests gathered in the casino ballroom Saturday and had the chance to bid on an array of Florida properties while sipping free cocktails and eating hors d' oeuvres. Some watched online.

The auction was held in the casino? Well, isn't that quite the metaphor for the real estate market over the past 3 or 4 years.

Thanks for posting ... I had not seen this story.

[TooFarTampa]

The auction was held in the casino? Well, isn't that quite the metaphor for the real estate market over the past 3 or 4 years.

Thanks for posting ... I had not seen this story.

It was an interesting story, but I don't think it has much relevance to SoWal. Even though inventory is high in both places, they are completely different markets.

I used to think that Tampa/St. Petersburg would pull itself out of its slump sooner than SoWal, but now I am wondering. If things are going under contract as SoWal realtors are reporting, and some of the inventory is burned off (both via sales and by those who were waiting to sell one property pulling others off the market), this market may be in balance sooner.

Much of the Tampa area is about where SoWal was this time last year. A lot of recent buyers are feeling sucker punched.

[bdc63]

It was an interesting story, but I don't think it has much relevance to SoWal. Even though inventory is high in both places, they are completely different markets.

Auction activity is beginning to pick up in SoWal ... several up coming auctions have been posted here in the last few weeks.

I think that it is quite appropriate to look at other recent auction results in Florida to try to extrapolate what might happen here. I suspect potential bidders are watching other markets VERY closely.

[fisher]

It was an interesting story, but I don't think it has much relevance to SoWal. Even though inventory is high in both places, they are completely different markets.

I used to think that Tampa/St. Petersburg would pull itself out of its slump sooner than SoWal, but now I am wondering. If things are going under contract as SoWal realtors are reporting, and some of the inventory is burned off (both via sales and by those who were waiting to sell one property pulling others off the market), this market may be in balance sooner.

Much of the Tampa area is about where SoWal was this time last year. A lot of recent buyers are feeling sucker punched.

Even with the increased activity reported by realtors on the board (but not yet seen in the sales activity reports for the market), inventory is beginning to creep back up, not inch down, as the spring selling season nears.

We've got a long way to go before things stabilize. Although there are some spotty sales on the high end of the market at decent prices, most are going at "rock bottom prices". However, the rock bottom prices seem to be going lower each quarter or so.

[JoshMclean]

I haven't seen anything on inventory creeping back up. Please let me know where you got this information?

[fisher]

I haven't seen anything on inventory creeping back up. Please let me know where you got this information?

Using my crystal ball.

Actually, I have been monitoring the MLS listings in various communities and the listings have been on the increase. However, more specifically, I look at the Davis Properties ad in the Walton Sun each week. They provide raw number of listings along 30A for homes, condos and lots. On 1/13 there were 1,526, 1,646 and 1,904 listings for homes, condos and lots, respectively. For 1/27, the numbers increased in all categories to 1,564, 1,739, and 1,970. For 2/24, the numbers increased in all categories again to 1,646, 1,793 and 2,048. In just over one month, inventory levels are up about 8%.

So, despite the good news of a slight uptick in activity, inventory is on the rise again.

[fisher]

Using my crystal ball.

Actually, I have been monitoring the MLS listings in various communities and the listings have been on the increase. However, more specifically, I look at the Davis Properties ad in the Walton Sun each week. They provide raw number of listings along 30A for homes, condos and lots. On 1/13 there were 1,526, 1,646 and 1,904 listings for homes, condos and lots, respectively. For 1/27, the numbers increased in all categories to 1,564, 1,739, and 1,970. For 2/24, the numbers increased in all categories again to 1,646, 1,793 and 2,048. In just over one month, inventory levels are up about 8%.

So, despite the good news of a slight uptick in activity, inventory is on the rise again.

And, remember, these numbers don't reflect homes that are not listed on the MLS. For instance, I went to the open house at Alys a couple of weeks ago. Even though only 6 homes are listed for sale on the MLS, they actually have over 20 for sale directly from the developer. I also believe that Joe has a decent number of homes for sale that are not listed on the MLS.