A leading luxury broker in Houston is going to the gavel in a bid to bring speed and convenience to high-end sellers.
Houston based Nan & Company Properties has launched an auction division, the Houston Business Journal reported, with its first listing going up for bid on July 15.
The brokerage, which is affiliated with Christie’s International Real Estate, started with an auction for a 13,000-square-foot mansion on 10 acres at 405 West Spreading Oaks Avenue in the Houston suburb of Friendswood. The owner is FasciaBlaster inventor and marketer Ashley Black, who has made a fortune and developed a celebrity following for the massaging tool that’s billed as a way to eliminate cellulite.
Nan & Co. president and CEO Nancy Almodovar said Black has moved out of the Houston metro area.
The mansion drew a bid of $2.5 million on the first day of the auction, which came after it was on the market with a $4.9 million price.
Prospective buyers can bid via the Nan & Co. website or by reaching the brokerage directly.
Real estate auctions traditionally have been driven by distress, but Almodovar said the Nan & Co. auction division grew out of a trend that has owners of luxury homes looking for convenience.
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“A lot of the time, it’s just because they’re unique properties,” she said. “And the sellers don’t want to deal with your typical [process of] putting it on the market and just kind of waiting.”
Almodovar said sellers often get less money from an auction than they would by listing, but many put a premium on a faster deal.
The auction model, while efficient, does have its downsides, such as higher upfront fees for sellers and the premium buyers pay, which can be up to 10 percent of the purchase price, Rogers Healy and Associates Real Estate CEO Rogers Healy told the Dallas Morning News recently.