Why would you play games with a piece of property for 2 years, when someone else can sell it for you in 60 days? That' the kind of question that Martin Higgenbotham, president of Higgenbotham Auctioneers International, asks potential clients every day. He has been in the auction business for more than 40 years and takes great pride in the fact that his company gets fair market value for the properties they auction every time.

"When we go to work for our clients, we tell them what day the property is going to sell and when it will close, so they can redistribute those dollars into another marketplace," says Higgenbotham. "Once we1ve advertised, promoted and sold the property, we will bring the client what it' worth. So consequently, they can move on with their lives."

Higgenbotham has been in the real estate brokerage and auctioneering field since 1959, conducting real estate and/or personal property auctions in more than 30 states. The Lakeland, Florida-based company has sold investment real estate, industrial and commercial real estate, fine antiques, estates, business liquidations and equipment in its 43-year history, but real estate has been the primary focus for the last 10 years, with a concentration on major companies selling major commercial tracts. For many years, Higgenbotham specialized in condominium sales, at times selling 100 to 150 units a day. But after running into difficulties in the residential business, the company refocused its energy on the commercial industry.

"In selling commercial real estate, you' not dealing with the mentality of being married to a property like you are with residential real estate," notes Higgenbotham. "In commercial real estate, the bottom line is people know what they have and they can make a decision immediately."

The decision to focus on commercial also has to do with the constant turmoil in the commercial industry, according to Higgenbotham. "It' not like condominiums, which come on the auction market whenever the economy slows down," he says. "I didn1t want to have to deal with what the economy was doing for the rest of my life, so I started to concentrate on commercial real estate because it has nothing to do with economics -- it has to do with the commercial side of America moving forward."

Today, Higgenbotham Auctioneers International is one of the largest real estate auction companies in America, ranking in the top five nationwide. The company includes professionally trained auctioneers, 30 licensed salespeople, in-house legal counsel and Brenmar Advertising, Inc., the company' in-house advertising agency.

"I don1t think a better on-site auction team exists today," says Higgenbotham. "We1ve been doing this for a long time, so we have the experience and know-how to get the most money for these sites. We know what to say and what not to say. In most instances, we1ve had experience with the clients, so we know their likes and their dislikes, their financial capabilities and who to steer away from. These are all things you find over time."

Why Auction?

Auctions have been an attractive alternative to traditional real estate listings because they are more efficient and often produce a higher market value. In fact, all known world-record prices have been established by the auction method of marketing.

An auction allows the customer to sell and close on its assets immediately, and control the terms and conditions of the sale. An auction also eliminates the holding cost of the property, including interest, taxes and cost of maintenance.

"It expedites the matter," says Higgenbotham. "When you have a developed piece of real estate, you will lose about 20 to 30 percent of value per year if that building sits empty. So it doesn1t make any sense to hold on to it."

The auction method also forces buyers to act by the sheer energy of the bidding competition. Higgenbotham conducts many of the auctions himself, but because he is not licensed in all states, he calls on local auctioneers to handle the bidding in some states.

From the first proposal to the final bid, Higgenbotham Auctioneers works with clients "every step of the way." They start by getting background on the company. They then go to the county, city and municipality to find out if there are any additional zoning or other issues concerning the property. Then Higgenbotham advertises and promotes the property to potential buyers through direct mail, television, radio or specialty publications.

"That' another reason I like selling commercial real estate -- the buyers are specific," offers Higgenbotham. "I know where to look for the commercial buyers."

In fact, the crux of Higgenbotham' advertising campaign is the sheer number of people on the company' mailing list -- close to 200,000, some of which have been attending Higgenbotham auctions since 1959. "We find that 60 to 100 percent of all the people who come to our sales and purchase are from our mailing list," says Higgenbotham. "So it' a very valuable tool."

Known as the "big box sellers," Higgenbotham Auctioneers has represented major chains such as Wal-Mart, Lowe', Publix and Albertsons. Auctioning properties has allowed these companies to create more cash flow while restructuring, reinvest in other markets or invest the proceeds in more profitable parts of the company' business.

"We1ve probably sold more big boxes in the last 5 or 6 years than all the other auction companies combined," Higgenbotham notes.

This past spring, Higgenbotham Auctioneers took its show on the road to sell 77 properties for Albertsons in less than 2 months. Higgenbotham' team transformed a tour bus into a mobile office and drove more than 15,000 miles in 7 weeks, hitting 22 states, including Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, California, Washington, Montana, New Jersey and Florida.

There are two ways to sell a group of properties that are scattered across a county or state, says Higgenbotham. The first is to rent a ballroom, advertise the properties to be sold and invite everyone who is interested in that series of properties to the ballroom.

"What happens is you drop out a huge percentage of local people who won1t go to the effort to drive 100 or 200 miles to attend an auction," says Higgenbotham. "So our theory is that if you go to the site itself, you not only get all the local people, you get the ones who would have gone to the ballroom also."

The Albertsons tour was designed to help the company get out of the market areas that weren1t working for them. The company is also buying a lot of chains, and in doing so, winds up with three or four different stores in the same marketplace, says Higgenbotham. "In order to better clarify their market and get a profitable store, they need to drop one or two of those out of the loop."

Higgenbotham Auctioneers also recently sold a warehouse property for hardware chain Scotty' Inc. in Winter Haven, Florida.

"Whenever the market changed, or Scotty' closed a store and built a new one, we would sell the old one for them," says Higgenbotham. "We did the same thing for Lowe' Lumber Company, and that' exactly what Albertsons is doing now."

Jeff Holden, president of Charter Real Estate Investment Group of Lakeland, bid $5.1 million for the Scotty property, which included three warehouse complexes and an 8-acre vacant lot. Holden had some competition in the heated auction, with three other bidders vying for individual pieces of the property. At one point, the three other bidders teamed up to try to outbid Holden.

That kind of excitement is what has kept Higgenbotham and his team going for so many years and why they plan to continue the business at home and on the road. But Higgenbotham notes that the future of the company rests with his son, Scott, and daughter, Lisa, who are involved in the company "up to their eyeballs."

"They' going forward wide open," says Higgenbotham. "The future looks very strong, and we' going to be here for the next millennium."

©2002 France Publications, Inc. Duplication or reproduction of this article not permitted without authorization from France Publications, Inc. For information on reprints of this article contact Barbara Sherer at (630) 554-6054.