Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Auction Results

UPDATE: Auction Winner Takes Florida Island for $258K

A fierce bidding war erupted during this week’s auction of a small island in Florida, with the property selling for more than US $200K above its appraisal price.

(Image Courtesy of Fisher Auction Company)

As previously reported in Private Island News (link), this week saw a unique online-only auction of a small island in South Florida. While island auctions do happen occasionally, this was a true 21st Century version, with all of the action happening on computer screens, rather than at the auctioneer’s office. A hefty deposit of $50,000 was required by the auction house, Fisher Auction Company, to ensure that the scourge of online auctions – bidders who aren’t serious, or change their mind after winning – wouldn’t tarnish the sale.

Heated competition actually drove the auction into overtime – it was supposed to have ended at 2pm on Thursday, but the time was extended for an extra 30 minutes while the final bids were made. Lamar Fisher, president and CEO of the auction house, described the rare event: “”It went into overtime until nobody bid within five minutes. And then it was over,” he told the Naples News. The ‘absolute’ nature of the auction meant that since there was no reserve price, the last man standing would take home the prize, which may have helped spark the bidding war.

Also creating interest would have been the huge amount of press coverage the event generated – across the nation, and even across the pond, major media outlets like ABC News, the New York Daily News and the London Times picked up on the story and brought the humble 1.4 acre island an enormous amount of publicity. Reportedly, 10 bidders from Florida, the East Coast, and even far-off California and the British Virgin Islands plunked down their $50,000 in order to bid on the auction.

The name and location of the winner is not yet public, but it will be entered into the public records after the sale formally closes in 30 days. What the successful bidder will do with the island is not yet known – however, the property is zoned residential, and located in an upscale area filled with high-end developments, so no doubt a luxurious vacation home is in store for the little Fort Meyers island. And, hopefully, the anonymous isle will also get a name.

While the appraised value of the island logged by the county was widely reported at US $42,000, the $258.5K winning bid was still a good buy – a commercial appraiser several years ago thought the island could be worth as much as $1.6 million. The auction house told the media that both they and the winner were pleased with the results of their rare private island auction; “We were very happy with the overall results and the bidder was very pleased with the property they got,” said a spokesman for the Fisher Auction Company.

Read more about this story: Naples News

 

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