Real estate sold by auction houses

As the real estate market in Las Vegas struggles with a high inventory of unsold homes, sellers are trying to find ways to successfully move their properties. They list them with Realtors and the MLS, some decide to proceed on their own as FSBOs and advertise in the newspaper and the Internet, they distribute flyers in the surrounding neighborhoods, they do a lot of different things and often none of it works.

But many of them must sell, for a variety of reasons. This is where the auction house comes into the picture. Today, it's increasingly the last resort for a desperate seller. Now the marketplace can decide the price of the house and the seller can say, whatever the sales price, that it was fair value.

Hudson & Marshall is a national firm and comes to Vegas every 90 days or so to auction foreclosed homes. They work closely with local agents and advertise the events for 45 days for maximum impact. Properties are auctioned "as is" and have clean titles, meaning no liens or encumbrances and no back taxes.

Those with winning bids are required to put down $2,500 or 5% of the sales price, whichever is higher. Also, they conduct "reserve" auctions where the seller can either take the offer or turn it down. Interested home buyers and investors can go to http://www.hudsonandmarshall.com/ for more information.

But why does it take so long to sell a property, by auction or other means? If it is priced correctly, it will go. Isn't that the motto of the marketplace that there always is a buyer when the price is right? The Las Vegas market has been soft for a while now and it's critical for the seller to accept that. Otherwise it's going to be a long and agonizing wait.