You trade stocks online, buy books and toys, and you certainly take advantage of great air fares. Then, as online auctions blazed onto the scene, you bid for electronics, collectibles and other high dollar items. Are you ready to buy your next home through an online auction?

Homebid.com, the nation's first and largest online auctioneer for residential real estate, is betting you will, and this week, they rolled the dice in the Las Vegas market, the third in a series of test markets.

One of the top ten relocation destinations in the nation, Las Vegas is already experiencing a brisk seller's market, one in which there are fewer homes for sale than there are buyers. But those are the ideal conditions for online auctions, according to Homebid.com.

With online auctions, there are several key advantages for all parties involved in the sale -buyers, sellers and brokers. First, the homes are broker-represented, so sellers still have the full power of the broker and the MLS system in the marketing of the home. Where the advantage goes to the next power is that the broker markets the home in preparation for the auction, stimulating interest from buyers before the auction is scheduled to take place. In many cases, some homes will sell before the auction begins, as in the previous test market, Phoenix in which 31 homes were purchased online before the auction by buyers who don't care to gamble that the price might go up on the auction block. Buyers can view the homes in advance, and in most cases, the home has already been inspected and appraised, making the decision to buy easier. Unlike traditional brokerage methods in which offers are closed, buyers have the opportunity to see what other competitors are offering for a particular home.

The seller benefits because the auction creates more urgency about the home. They can also set a reserve price, so they aren't in a position of putting the home on the auction block for less than they are comfortable accepting. The broker benefits because they still navigate the deal and they have a new, exciting means to market the home besides traditional MLS methods.

For the Las Vegas auction, Homebid.com partnered with Realty Executives brokers Jeff and Fafie Moore. The two-day sale began Tuesday with over 319 properties ranging from single family homes to condominiums to bare tracts of land. This is more than twice the number of properties offered in previous auctions which were held in Phoenix in June and in Hartford, Connecticut in January. Thirty-two homes were sold, raising about the same amount as the Phoenix auction, around $6 million. The average price of the homes for sale was $187,000.

The scorecard so far shows that online auctions have met with mixed success, with HUD homes and other REOs showing much better results. The Hartford online auction, which took place in a freezing blizzard, was a triumph with an astonishing 136 out of 148 properties sold. But the success of the Hartford auction contrasts with slower sales in Phoenix and Las Vegas, underscoring the lack of knowledge about the process among brokers and their customers.

But Homebid is undaunted and counts the auctions as successes nonetheless. They knew that promoting broker-sponsored homes for auction online would take considerable public awareness. To help with the task, Homebid has raised over $25 million in venture capital to promote residential real estate auctions to brokers and consumers.

Evidence is clear that Homebid is on the right track. The auction process does appear to stimulate urgency. Repeating the pre-auction success in Phoenix, where 31 out of 32 properties were sold online before the bidding began, the Las Vegas brokers also sold 25 properties before the opening bell.

Homebid plans to steer its course and continue to develop broker-represented home auctions as well as keep its bread and butter products - government and lender REOs and foreclosures.

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Published: July 16, 1999

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Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. For more articles by Blanche, click here.