Canadian buys lake property at auction
A Whitefish Lake property that once listed for $11.5 million was sold by auction last week to a man from Calgary, Alberta, for an undisclosed sum.
The 3.5-acre property at 100 Scullers Way on the northeast side of the lake, included 400 feet of lakeshore frontage, a 3,650-square-foot main residence with three bedrooms and log-cabin accents, a split-level guest house and an oversized 4-car garage.
According to New York-based Concierge Auctions, which handled the auction, the seller, Ric Anderson, also of Calgary, recently upgraded to another home on Whitefish Lake and "is not a financially distressed seller." Anderson said he understood the risks but was willing to put the property up for auction with no reserve.
"Concierge Auctions advised me from the beginning that I should auction the property without reserve," he said. "I understand I'm taking a risk using the without-reserve format, but it's a calculated one. Currently, there are 62 residential properties available for purchase on Whitefish Lake, and I want the market to know that I'm committed to making sure 100 Scullers Way is the next one to sell."
Concierge Auctions handles auctions for high-end real estate nationwide, in concert with Sotheby's International Realty and other luxury brokerage firms. Its database includes 50,000 luxury real estate buyers and agents from across the U.S. and 38 countries, and it has been involved in $2 billion of high-end real estate sales over the past decade.
The Scullers Way property was heavily advertised locally for about a month, with full- and half-page ads, as well as online. Concierge Auctions reported 110 buyer prospects after 2,896 visits to the auction Web site from 45 countries and all 50 U.S. states. In the end, there were eight registered buyers.
Pat Donovan, the listing broker with Glacier Sotheby's International Realty, in Whitefish, said bidders needed to put up $100,000 to participate in the auction. Some thought they could get the property for less than $1 million, he said, "but it was not in the cards."
"The auction format generated a lot of interest and was very effective," Donovan said. "There were more tours of the home in a shorter period of time. That could partly have been a factor of there being no reserve."
Donovan was the principal with Discovery Land Co., which was responsible for planning and implementing the Iron Horse subdivision in Whitefish. Prior to that, he had a hand in developing and leasing shopping centers in Dallas, Texas.
The sale price cannot be disclosed, and the sale won't close for 30 days, Donovan said. A rumor among local Realtors was that 100 Scullers Way sold for $2.3 million. When the auction process started, the minimum bid was $3 million. During the auction, it's rumored, the price momentarily passed $3 million before an error was discovered and the price went back down closer to $2 million again.
A Flathead Lake property south of Bigfork sold in auction last summer for about half its most recent listing. John Thornton, a Tennessee developer, who bought the property in 2005 and restored the 1940s-era home, opted for an auction sale on Aug. 6, 2009.
The 5.5-acre property, which included a guest house, an orchard and 345 feet of lake frontage, listed for $3.2 million in 2007 and sold to the highest bidder, Douglas Stober, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, for $1.7 million. The deal may not have concluded, however, because of a lien held by one of the original mortgage lenders.
Two high-end Whitefish Lake properties were sold this year. A building site with 3.8 acres on East Lakeshore Drive with 162 feet of lake frontage sold for $3.1 million, and a two-bedroom home on Birch Point Drive with 55 feet of lake frontage sold for $1.3 million.
Among the 60-some Whitefish Lake properties still on the market are a newly-constructed, 4,500-square-foot home with 90 feet of lake frontage on Pack Rat Lane, listed for $4.3 million, and a 3,850-square-foot home with four bedrooms and 50 feet of lake frontage on West Lakeshore Drive, listed for $3.1 million.