California
Updated 4/24/06
Requirements
An Auctioneer license is not required in the state of California. As of September 1992, the Auctioneer Commission formerly under the California Department of Consumer Affairs was eliminated. Currently there is no state agency that regulates or issues licenses to Auctioneers or auction companies. Individual counties may require a license.
A real estate license (broker's license) is required if an Auctioneer is handling all aspects of a real estate auction, including the closing. A real estate license is not required; however, for an Auctioneer only calling bids at a real estate auction.
A surety bond is required and must be filed with the office of the Secretary of State for the state of California.
Contact
Office of the Secretary of State
Kevin Shelley, Secretary of State
1500 11th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-653-6814
www.ss.ca.gov
Department of Real Estate
Enforcement Division
PO Box 187000
Sacramento, CA 95818-7000
Phone: 916-227-0864
Fax: 916-227-0863
www.dre.ca.gov
Department of Consumer Affairs
1625 N. Market Blvd. Suite N112
Sacramento, CA 95838
916-445-1254
www.dca.ca.gov
Office of the Attorney General
Jerry Brown, Attorney General
Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
VOICE 1-800-952-5225 (Toll-free in CA) or
(916) 322-3360
*This information comes from the National Auctioneers Association.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9IX1JRbHtc
Mike Grigg with Elite Auctions sells a 4 acre parcel of land in beautiful Tehachapi, CA. The auction was absolute which means the seller was willing to take whatever the property brought at auction. There were 7 bidders and the final price was $9,625. Visit www.sellwithauction.com to find out how to sell your property by auction with Elite Auctions, "California's Auctioneer of Real Property".
The Press-Enterprise - October 20, 2006
New On The Block - Auctions are a fast alternative to homes languishing on market
In a real estate market described as tepid at best, sellers are trying something different to drum up excitement and stand out from the crowd. They're putting their homes on an auction block.
... In less than five minutes, the Highland auction was over. Four bidders upped the ante until all but one dropped out. The four-bedroom, three-bath house with swimming pool... sold for $528,000.
Mike Grigg, auctioneer for Bakersfield-based California Premier Auctions Inc. [Elite Auctions], which ran the auction in Highland, said the process is intended to "get the best price in the shortest amount of time." Grigg said he has seen mounting interest in auctions as the Southern California housing market softens, beginning with investors who are no longer able to "flip" houses.
...The sellers, Henry and Joyce Higginbotham, said they were happy to avoid the months-long wait - a period during which prices could fall. ... An auction can "take a market that has tons of houses in it and say 'just for an hour concentrate on mine,' and then, sure enough, it is sold," said Bruce Norris, a Riverside real estate lender.
...Grigg said sometimes auction companies can "hit a home run" for their clients when, in the heat of competition, the bidding exceeds the property's previous listing price.
Auctionsense - July 6, 2007
Volume 1 Issue 7
Mike Grigg [Elite Auctions] held three real estate auctions on Saturday, June 30. I attended them to see how he was getting along, and get along he did! The three properties totaled nearly $750,000... Congratulations to Mike as he did a great job promoting and calling the bids at the auctions.
While I was driving around the area of Mike's auction I noticed at least 25 for sale signs with "price reduced" on them from various realty companies. About half of them had open house signs. Well need I tell you the power of an auction and the sense of urgency they create? There was absolutely no one at the other listed homes but when I arrived at the auction there were cars parked three blocks away. There was over 100 people in attendance at the auction waiting to compete on the house with no contingencies or incentives offered. Mike sold the house in less than 10 minutes after being on the market with a realtor for a year. The house sold for 398,000 which was fair market value for the area. At least five other individuals approached Mike after the sale to see if he could sell their homes by auction. I will say it again, if you are a realtor you should know how to offer auctions to your sellers and how to co-op with an auctioneer. It will make you money.
The Associated Press via USA Today - July 16, 2008
Home auctions surge nearly 47% since 2003
NASHVILLE - In a sign of just how broad the real estate downturn has become, revenue from resdential real estate sold at live auction grew about 5% last year and is up almost 47% since 2003, according to the National Auctioneers Association.
Auctioneers say that much of their current business is being driven by home builders reducing inventory, and individuals who can't afford to wait out the real estate doldrums.
Despite the soft real estate market, Beazer Homes USA (BZH) recently sold 26 beachfront condos on the Jersey Shore in 75 minutes.
Christopher Gillen, an executive vice president for Beazer Homes USA, said the condos were the first the company had put up for auction in the area.
Before the auction, Beazer was asking between $400,000 and $850,000 for the condos, but sold them for between the high $300s and the high $700s, Gillen said.
The condo sales "may have taken a year-plus to sell if we had gone a more traditional route of putting homes on the market," Gillen said.
On Wednesday, the National Association of Home Builders said the business outlook of the major builders hit a record low in July. The monthly index posted new lows for sales conditions, shopper traffic and sales expectations.
Yet auctions are proving to be one sales solution for both builders and anxious homeowners.
Tommy Williams, president of association, believes more people are turning to auctions because they're more familiar with them, thanks to eBay.
"EBay introduced a world to the concept of auctions better than anybody. The average consumer began to look at auctions not only as an alternative, but in a positive light," Williams said.
Residential real estate auctions are the fastest-growing segment with gross sales of almost $16.9 billion last year, up from about $11.5 billion in 2003.
But individual property owners aren't necessarily making a profit, or even getting what they paid for the house if they bought in an overheated market. Often the main benefit of an auction is getting out from under rising interest on house notes and paying other expenses like taxes and insurance.
Mark Bratton needed to sell his Hot Springs, Ark., home so he could move into a single-story abode because of health problems. He put the property up for auction through a company near his home, where he says houses today can often sit on the market for up to eight months on average.
"What I wanted was to sell the house and sell it quickly," said Bratton, who recently sold the home at auction about 30 days after listing it with the company. He bought the house in 2005 for $139,000 and put about $180,000 into refurbishing it. When the gavel came down, the winning bidder paid just $275,000.
Marty Higgenbotham, who heads Higgenbotham Auctioneers International in Lakeland, Fla., said homeowners who bought in overheated markets and are selling their properties at auction now are typically only going to get back about 60 to 65 cents on the dollar.
Buyers typically also have to pay a fee, usually 6% to 10% of the total cost, which covers the auctioneers costs and other expenses.
Bernard Markstein, senior economist for the National Association of Homebuilders, said auctions traditionally are not the preferred route for most people because house values are typically not as high.
"The longer you take, as a general rule, you're going to get closer to your asking price ... But if you want to make a quick sale, you will probably have to cut your price more," Markstein said.
But Williams and other auctioneers say if property owners have to sell at a time when real estate housing values are declining in many markets, it's better to sell sooner than later.
Elite Auctions is "California's Auctioneer of Real Property". Real estate auctions are the most effective way to buy & sell property in a buyer's market.
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