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SALT LAKE CITY #&8212; A new trend for selling luxury homes has made its way to Utah and homeowners are seeing success.
Homeowners are turning to an auction to find buyers for high-end homes after the property values of these homes decreased during the 2009 housing crisis. Saturday, a Salt Lake City home known as the Glass House was sold on auction.
"We had over 1,000 people come to the open houses and view the property," said Daniel DeCaro of DeCaro Luxury Real Estate Auctions. "I think we had above 10 bidders."
He described the bidding as "mildly aggressive." No word on how much the buyer paid for the home Saturday, but DeCaro said the homeowner is glad to have made the sale. He said the home will be settled in about 30 days.
While auctions can be held in-house, online auctions are an alternative. Websites like eBay and RealtyBid.com have gotten involved in auctioning homes online. Like all auctions, while bidding wars can increase the final price of the sale, a property without many bids can sell for less than sellers would like.
For those who want to sell their home quickly, however, auctioning can be beneficial. Buyers come to the auction ready to buy, and the sometimes weeks of negotiating are eliminated at the auction.
"Folks have had years of property sitting on a market, and a lot of wealthy sellers are now turning to this process because it's an effective way to sell your home," DeCaro said. "At the end of the day, at the end of the marketing program, you have a sale. The sale is going to settle, it's non-contingent."
Luxury realtors, DeCaro said, like auctioning homes when they are trying to sell under deadline. He said it takes four weeks to set up an auction, including four weekends of open houses. On the fifth weekend, the auction is held.
