Mineral County properties part of large online auction

A sudden wave of yellow and black auction signs has sprung up across western Montana, signaling the start of what may be the largest online land auction in the state's history. A forward-thinking Montana real estate broker, Al Dunlap of Regent Realty in Missoula, has partnered with the LFC Group of Companies, industry leaders in online marketing, to sell 30 properties. Twenty-four of the properties alone reside within Mineral County.

"This is a mammoth-sized auction with many different properties and a number of different sellers," said James Gerber, public relations associate for LFC. "We are pretty confident there has never been an online auction with this many properties."

Apart from the size of the auction, the other thing that makes it unique is the manner in which it is being conducted. Unlike most other auctions that are regularly held in hotel ballrooms or conference centers, the properties are being auctioned off entirely online, which is also something that also set LFC apart as a company as they have conducted auctions exclusively online since 2004.

"Online auctions are still relatively new," Gerber said. "But they are creeping up more and more. More companies are bringing an online auction platform to their company. They're picking up steam rapidly."

LFC originally begin as an "outcry auction," according to Kelly Lovegrove, director of marketing for LFC.

The online auction comes at a time when real estate agents are looking for new ways to reach buyers in a fledging market that is still on the rebound after the fallout of the economy.

"In today's market, it is really difficult to not only grab buyer attention, but also engage them in the process," said Dunlap. "The online auction is the perfect way to get buyers off the fence, create some action and give the sellers real bids to seriously consider."

Gerber said that online auctions are breaching the gap between bids and asked price by offering an initially low minimum bid and allowing bidders to ultimately determine what the piece of property is worth. The minimum bids for the 30 properties in the auction in western Montana alone were 70 percent less than the previous asking prices.

"This is the best way in a tough market to determine a fair value for a piece of property," Gerber said.

Online auctions are also offering a unique environment for people to buy in: their own home. Buyers no longer have to be somewhere at a certain time or certain place to purchase a piece of property.

"It allows people to participate from anywhere across the country," Gerber said. "It allows many types of buyers to purchase property."

Gerber said that with the Montana auction, they had over 3,000 individuals register to bid from over a dozen states.

The ability to purchase online also removes the pressure of an outcry auction. Lovegrove said that an outcry auction prices are rising fairly quickly and in a split second an individual has to decide whether or not they want to increase their bid. She said that often time buyers can get caught up in the shouting of an outcry auction while they may find themselves with a piece of property they wanted it's at a price they didn't want to pay.

Online auctions give individuals the chance to research a property, decide what they would like to pay and to speak with those whose input is invaluable whether it's a board, a company president or their spouse. Lovegrove said that typically an auction on their site will be open for 30 to 60 days giving people plenty of time to get things in line.

Online auctions are also becoming an important tool for moving real estate in a market that is still recovering. With more and more properties on the market, the fastest way to recover will be to move properties.

"With the amount of inventory hitting the market, an auction is the fastest way to move things," Lovegrove said. "And that's what we want for our clients. They want to know properties are going."

Lovegrove said that she feels online auctions will continue to play an important role as the real estate market recovers. She said the economy has affected both the commercial and residential real estate markets. She said that while the residential market has started to recover, the commercial market is going through its pains.

"I think, in general, the whole area if real estate is in the seventh inning of what we are going to see happen," Lovegrove said. "I can't say when everything is going to recover, but there are encouraging signs in different areas of the United States."

Finally, in age where more and more people are connected digitally, Lovegrove said that more people are becoming comfortable with online transactions.

"I think over the past few years more and more people have become comfortable doing transactions on the internet," she said. "I think more and more the buying public is comfortable with the internet and when it comes to buying house or property online everything is available about that property on line."

If you want to view the properties currently available at auction in Mineral County, you can check out LFC.com/907. The bidding officially ends on Thursday, July 29.