Let's close out the week by discussing a common trait found in most of the luxury home auction sellers I work with on a weekly basis.  You've heard me mention here numerous times the profile of a typical seller which is that they usually are not distressed and don't have to sell.  They are usually selling because they are moving, downsizing, wanting to be closer to family (often grandchildren) or there may be health issues. Today, let's look at a different angle which is the personality of many

Well, unless you're living under a rock somewhere here in the South and haven't heard about the University of Alabama's head football coach Nick Saban's luxury home auction, then let me be the first to tell you about it.  For the rest of you out there not living in the South who haven't heard, it has been a big story here in the last couple of days, especially in Alabama and Georgia, where a couple of his homes are located.  Did Nick act on my recent blog post "$ 1 Billion in Art Heading to Auct

Notice the first sentence in the article linked below "It's a Seller's Market".  I have discussed here many times before that luxury homes, much like art, are sold at high-end real estate auction.  Do these non-distressed sellers mentioned in the article like Paul Allen and Madonna take out an ad in a magazine or newspaper?  Do they display it in a window with a fixed price attached? Do they list it like the thousands of other pieces being offered?  No, they auction it.  The same concept applies

Have you noticed the large amount of luxury home auctions scheduled for this summer?  Why is that?  Is there something about those months that are historically beneficial for sellers?  For those out West and up North that are beginning to thaw out, yes.  For the other regions, not really.  Non-distressed high end home auctions occur year-round there.  So, what is it about this summer?  Is it because the S&P is at all-time highs (even though it is somewhat of an artificial run up due to a F

There is a lot of activity going on out there in the high end real estate auction world these days.  It seems like more small auction firms are trying to break into the business as are even some traditional real estate firms.  However, many of those are finding that what we do in our world is much more difficult than it may appear on the surface.  Many think mistakenly, "How difficult could it be?"  Unfortunately, most of those start ups find out the hard way and go back to what they know. So,