A Day at a Real Estate Auction
Auctions may draw crowds for sellers, but not necessarily a sale
By Jennie L. Phipps, FrontDoor.com | Published: 7/28/2008
In today's sluggish housing market, more and more sellers are forgoing conventional selling methods and putting their homes on the auction block. In 2007, the real estate auction business made $58.4 billion in revenues, up 39 percent from 2003, according to the National Auctioneers Association. Buyers are getting in on the action too, hoping to scoop up a bargain as the top bidder.
On a warm July day, eager buyers attended an estate auction in Adrian, Mich., a town halfway between Ann Arbor and Toledo, Ohio. Large signs like this one at the auction site are meant to draw potential buyers.
