CHICAGO—As reported yesterday in GlobeSt.com, Sperry Van Ness recently launched a Chicago-based franchise, called AuctionWorks, and the new venture will host a multi-property auction online from June 23 to the 25th. Diana Peterson, the president and part-owner, tells GlobeSt.com that such online marketplaces are “definitely becoming more popular across the board.”
“I've found that live auctions were not very exciting because the best properties usually sold long before the auction,” she adds, and the online method combines efficiency and convenience with the competitive bidding an auction inspires. Previously, Peterson was an executive vice president of Auctions by ATG, where she was responsible for building the firm's auction platform.
This new auction, the firm's second one online, has attracted a rather eclectic collection of 27 properties, mostly in Illinois, by 8 different sellers and ranging from two luxury homes on the North Side, other South Side dwellings, industrial property, retail property in suburban Glen Ellyn, and even some vacant, bank-owned land.
Unlike many auction companies, Peterson says, AuctionWorks fronts a significant amount of money to market the properties, and therefore, they wait until they have accumulated a large number of items. “That's why we have such a mixture of properties. We're spreading our marketing costs over a number of properties. Otherwise, we would have to do less marketing or charge the sellers more up front.”
“Most people come to us because they want a quick sale,” she adds, “so we encourage pre-auction bids. We anticipate about 50% of the properties selling before the auction. That is definitely the expectation with the two luxury homes,” which include a single-family brick home at 1727 N. Dayton Ave. in Lincoln Park with a suggested opening bid of $1,250,000, and a six-bedroom Peterson Park residence at 6156 N. Saint Louis Ave. with a suggested opening bid of $625,000.
“There are times when a live auction makes sense,” Peterson says, such as when government-owned property gets auctioned, simply because the live auction provides greater transparency. “But most of the time online is the route to go.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
