A multi-million-dollar Canyon Pass home in Dove Mountain goes on the auction block Monday, and then every five days the price will drop by $50,000.
Called a reverse auction, the sales approach is unique because of the announced price reduction and schedule.
“We know the buyers are out there, we just need to get their attention,” said listing agent Jeff Ell, with Ell Real Estate Group at Keller Williams Southern Arizona. “Some people might raise an eyebrow at announcing future reductions, but we expect the prescheduled drops will motivate interested parties to act decisively, knowing that every five days their competition increases.”
The home, at 4502 W. Hanging Rock Court, is a four-bedroom, seven-bath house built in 2008. It is more than 6,500 square feet in size on 1.8 acres in a gated community north of Tangerine Road and Dove Mountain Boulevard.
The asking price on Monday will be $2,050,000 and the decreases will begin five days later.
Bids will be accepted at anytime because the property remains active, Ell said.
It is a second home for the owners, who declined an interview request. It has been on the market since 2012 with other agents, and Keller Williams got the listing in October.
“There just isn’t a large buyer pool for these types of homes,” Ell said. “We told the buyers, ‘let’s do something different to turn the tables.”
With its international network through Keller Williams Luxury Division, the agents will use social media, direct mail and email to update prospective buyers. The auction has its own website, tucsonreverseauction.com, where people can see photos of the home and make a bid.
Ell said it’s an ideal second home or suitable for a young family.
Agents often negotiate a schedule of price reductions with the seller when a house goes on the market, said Kevin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and technology for Long Companies.
“Every time the price goes down there’s a shoutout to a different group of people in the price range,” he said. “It depends on the seller and what they are looking to do.”
Announced price reductions and schedule, Kaplan said, is a little different.
Dan Polimino, owner of Keller Williams Colorado Dream House Team, came up with the idea of using a reverse auction to sell a luxury home in 2008 but didn’t employ the technique until last year.
His Denver property was listed for $3.9 million on Sept. 14 and sold 45 days later for $2.45 million.
To critics who said all Polimino did was lower the price of the house, he said, “What we did was find the true value of the house,” he told Inman, a real estate news outlet. And, he noted, it didn’t sit on the market for four or five years.
So how low will the price of the Tucson house go?
“That’s for buyers to find out,” Ell said with a laugh. “Obviously we wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think we could sell it.”
