Auctioneer’s lure: 15 cents on the dollar

Sun

You could own a new home in this province for 15 cents on the dollar. You would have to drive some to use it, of course; about 10 1/2 hours by the province’s reckoning.

An American auction house this week circulated notice that it will ”bring down the hammer” next month on 40 apartments on Lake Windermere. ”REAL ESTATE AUCTION FEVER SPREADS NORTH!” the headline atop the news release announces.

The auction company is Kennedy Wilson and it is ”one of the world’s largest real estate auction companies.”

Heck, we at Westcoast Homes would have paid attention just because of the company’s address, Wilshire Boulevard, in Beverly Hills.

There they know how to liquidate unwanted real estate, with the Kennedy Wilson news release reporting that 34 Pasadena residences sold in one hour was the company’s most recent success.

”Bidding is set to start at just $85,000 on new designer condos which were previously priced at up to $589,900 each,” the Kennedy Wilson Lake Windermere news release teases. The Lake Windermere Pointe auction is also a Canadian first, the news release further teases. (If journalism ever dies, one engraving on the craft’s tombstone will read, superlatives ‘r’ us.) Lake Windermere Pointe is located in Invermere (”unmatched scenic beauty … rugged mountains … mature stands of fragrant evergreens”). If you bid, more likely not not you will be bidding against Albertans: Calgary is a three-hour drive away. The Lake Windermere Pointe developer, Pointe Of View, is a Calgary company, with some Vancouver-area developments on its CV. Kennedy Wilson’s Rhett Winchell reports that Pointe Of View ”is eager to take advantage of lower labour and material costs to start the next phase of its J/V waterfront resort in Invermere. ”To do so they have decided to sell 40 of their remaining units at Lake Windermere Pointe. The cost savings derived by starting the next phase now are huge.” Eleven different plans will be auctioned off, all of them either one bed or two bed. ”Bright, open designs with spacious balconies and barbeque decks provide picture-postcard views of tranquil Lake Windermere and its lush, primordial surroundings. ”Inside, each home features top-quality materials and high-end design details such as ceramic tile flooring in the entryway and brushed nickel hardware in gourmet kitchens. ”Plush wall-to-wall carpeting and central heating and air conditioning ensure every home is a paragon of comfort no matter what the season.” (We at Westcoast Homes usually spare you these sales-literature promises, but the Lake Windermere Pointe story would be incomplete without them.) Bidders must register, and with a cashier’s cheque of $2,000 for each home, the news release says. Bidders can also practise. The auctioneer has scheduled an information meeting for Sept. 26, in Calgary. “The seminar will close with a live practice auction hosted by an actual Kennedy Wilson auctioneer.” The auction is scheduled for Oct. 3, in a Calgary hotel. For more information, visit WindermerePointeAuction.com on the Internet.

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