Comes word from Elite Auctions Marketing Director Alicia Chmielewski that the no-reserve auction for Dallas City Councilman Lee Kleinman’s home in Hillcrest Estates has been canceled. The no-reserve auction was to take place at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 28. We are told that a pre-auction offer has been accepted by the sellers, Kleinman and his wife, Dr. Lisa Umholtz.
In fact, the home now shows pending sale status in MLS.
The price on the contract is confidential. All we know is “the price was acceptable to the buyer and seller.”
While the asking price is a clue as to how much it will take to pull a home from the auction, it is not necessarily the sales price. The home is expected to close October 28. It is actually not uncommon for homes to sell prior to auction: same thing happened at 4525 Catina Lane, which was listed at $4,450,000, and later slated for auction under Ryan Streiff. The home sold pre-auction July 10. The estate at 4525 Catina had also been marketed by Evan Stewart.
“I can’t say how great it makes me feel to help a seller and their listing agent that’s tried and tried to sell, actually achieve their goals of attaining market value in a short time period,” says Chmielewski. “It’s gratifying beyond explanation!”
Auctions are a great way to motivate sellers as well as buyers: buyers don’t want to risk being outbid on a home at auction, and sellers may prefer to sell prior to auction to a contracted amount.
Of note: this sharp pre-auction buyer, whoever they are, saved paying a 10 percent buyer’s surcharge to be paid at auction, by purchasing the home the day before.
“After being on the market for two years with declining activity, Alicia and Elite Auction were able to bring hundreds of people and several showings in less than 30 days,” Kleinman told me. “That flurry of activity resulted in a satisfactory offer that we accepted before the auction date.”
