Carlton CEO discusses new auction site

Howard Michaels, chairman and CEO of the Carlton Group

With the volatile real estate debt market, now is certainly an interesting time to become further entrenched in the industry — so says Howard Michaels, the chairman and CEO of the Carlton Group, which recently launched the Carlton Exchange Web site where investors can auction off real estate loans. Michaels sat down with the New York Times to discuss his firm’s new site and some of his most memorable deals. Michaels said that, given the current market climate, now is an ideal time to launch the auction Web site. “The banks will get more exposure for their assets, the bidders can go to a central location to see what’s available,” Michaels said. “But it’s not an auction in that it has to be sold right away. It’s more like the Multiple Listing Service you have for homes.”