Colorado Springs-based firm takes unconventional approach to sell land

Finding market price – what a buyer will actually pay for property in an over-supplied, over-leveraged commercial real estate market – has become a 2010 version of a Rubik’s Cube puzzle.

But Hoff & Leigh brokers Tim Leigh and R.D. Trinidad say they’re willing to try an unconventional solution to sell one local 6-acre parcel.

The vacant land is located near the intersection of North Carefree Circle and North Academy Boulevard, just behind Walgreen’s.

Originally listed for $850,000, the land is owned by “a very motivated seller.”

“We’re going to lower the price every two weeks by $50,000 increments until we find a buyer,” Leigh said.

He believes two key factors in real estate transactions will guide the sale to a true market price.

“Greed and fear will get us there. Greed because investors will be looking for a good deal at and good price, and fear because anyone interested will be afraid at the right price, another bidder might get it,” he said.

The auction pot will also be sweetened with one more incentive.

Leigh and Trinidad are selling $10 chances to be part of a “how-much-will-the land-sell-for” pool. Brokers and the public are invited to participate. Ultimately, the proceeds will be divided 50 percent between the winner guesser and two organizations: the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors political action committee and Pikes Peak United Way.

“No one’s done anything like this in town, but values have dropped so far that we have to find the market. So we’re going to let the auction determine the real value,” Leigh said.

Who knows? The stair-stepped auction concept might catch on nationwide.

In a study conducted last month by the CCIM Institute and the Real Estate Research Corporation said that a commercial real estate recovery “has become dependent on, and stands precariously linked to, the repricing and deleveraging of property … less contingent on access to capital, given that liquidity has returned to the … markets.

“There’s money out there, but the paradigm has really shifted. Investors are waiting until the market sets new, true value,” he said.

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