After 2 years of unsuccessful sale attempts in the market, a luxury home in Collingwood, Calgary will be offered to online bidders via an auctioneer in Texas.
The auction of the 4,625-square-foot estate of Clarendon Road N.W. will be the first of its kind in Calgary, according to real estate agent Mark Evernden.
“This is the first inside the city limits — there’ve been auctions in rural areas and acreages,” Evernden told the Calgary Herald. “If we don’t get the traditional sales, we go to auction . . . in a way, it’s not that unique — you go to New Zealand and Australia every house is auctioned.”
The 11-year-old European-style property – which boasts of 5 bedrooms, a Guinness-themed bar, and a climate-controlled wine cellar – is being marketed to potential Asian buyers, the main reason for its address being changed from 84 to 86.
“Four is the sign for death on the Asian market, so we can’t have that,” Evernden explained, noting that this is a valid method of selling high-end homes in a struggling economy.
“The market value is running about 30% under replacement value, meaning if you put $2 million into a home, you’ll get back $1.5 million,” the agent added. “A deal for this house would be $2.6 to $2.8 million, because it would cost $5 million to replace it as it stands.”
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Murray Lange of Concierge Auctions stated that the auction is unreserved – that is, it does not have a set base price. However, competition between a projected count of 7 to 10 bidders will inflate the the final sale price.
“We can accommodate bidders from all over the world on this platform . . . the increments will become gradually smaller and then down to two bidders,” Lange said, adding that he is expecting the auction to last no longer than an hour.
“Just because no base has been set doesn’t mean it’ll sell for nothing.”
Bidders will be required to post a refundable $100,000 deposit and offer proof that they have either cash or financing to close the deal.
The February 28 auction of 86 Clarendon Road starts at 6 p.m.
Ephraim is currently a journalist at Mortgage Broker News, Real Estate Professional and Canadian Real Estate Wealth.
Ephraim is a highly accomplished news reporter whose work has been published across North America and the Asia Pacific region. Before joining Key Media, Ephraim spent eight years working as a journalist with Reuters TV. His areas of expertise include real estate, mortgage, and finance.
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