We knew it would sell, we just wondered how much and to whom.
On Saturday morning, quick as a quail, Elite Auctions sold off former Texas Ranger’s first baseman Mark Teixeira’s beautiful Vaquero home at 2220 King Fisher Dr. Though the home has been leased for years, Teixeira has been the home’s sole owner until now.
On Saturday, someone got a steal of a deal. The sales price is confidential, dang it, but I am hearing through my contacts that the house sold for market value. 80 people toured the property, there were 11 registered bidders the day of the auction, and they all competed against each other for a lively, but quick, auction.
“It was very, very interesting because with such a large pool of buyers/bidders, the market value was reached in less than 10 minutes,” says Alicia Chmielewski, market director/partner with Elite Auction. “This is why auctions are such a perfect way to sell high end, custom luxury homes.”
And get this: most of the bidders were represented by real estate agents!
That so many of the bidders were real estate agents means Elite reached a whole slew of Realtors primarily by working with us at Daltxrealestate, to toot our own horn here for a minute. But their approach was also truly multi-media and international — at least one potential buyer came in the day before the auction because they had seen the Elite ad on television.
“We used many, many different outlets on an international scale,” says Tom Charron, market director/partner, Elite Auctions. “And we were so pleased to have as many bidders as we did. Here is a property that has been on and off the market for at least 10 years, unable to be sold despite being listed by the finest agents in North Texas. We secured eleven bidders in seven weeks.”
Charron, a real estate industry veteran, says he is devoting the rest of his career to selling homes this way, through the auction process.
“The program worked beyond expectations,” says Tom. “Agents with properties over two million, pay attention: sellers deserve to know you have a choice of two ways to sell properties.”
Despite all the international marketing, which has to be done, the buyer turns out to be a local person. Same thing with the Crespi Estate. Same thing with the Swarovski mansion, also in Vaquero. And same thing with the Penson estate in Highland Park. sold by Heritage Auctions.
That buyer snagged 1.08 acres, an 8,554-square-foot house in perfect condition with five bedrooms, four full bathrooms, four half baths, three living areas, two dining areas, indoor-outdoor theater with wet bar, master suite wing with wet bar and huge spa bath, game room, a separate casita for guests, wine cellar, two-story office, pool, hot tub, and cloistered patio. There is a retractable screen door that opens the main living area to the outdoors. The home is loaded with custom millwork, even in the closets, high end appliances, and copper insets as well as sinks.
A contractor touring the house during our Daltxrealestate.com Staff Party a week prior to the auction told me that Mark had added the huge family room over extra garage spaces after living in the house for a bit. This is a solidly built home, and has been leased by a host of celebrities from Sean Payton to Prince Fielder. What a great family home!
