Recently, I lent my perspectives on the real estate auction world to Investor’s Business Daily. Auctions are gaining focus right now, with hopes to bring back a realistic sense of fair market value:

Many owners who bought property in the last five years are now upside-down on their loans and have no way out, says John Johnson, head of the Accelerated Marketing unit of Sperry Van Ness.

The commercial real estate firm conducts dozens of live auctions across the U.S. every year. But in today’s market, it runs few reserve sales, which allow the seller to accept or decline the final bid.

Instead, Sperry Van Ness requires owners to accept the winning offer before the bidding starts, known as an absolute auction, Johnson says.

“Sellers are starting to see the writing on the wall,” he said. “Auctions demonstrate true market value and are becoming property owners’ only option to avoid foreclosure.”

Johnson says today’s problem is similar to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s that led to government seizures and the auction of S&L-owned properties.

Click here to read the full Investor’s Business Daily article by Brad Kelly, to learn how these auctions are being conducted and why they institutions and owners of distressed properties are seeing the process as such a success.  You can also learn more about the Sperry Van Ness auction process and upcoming auctions at svnauctions.com.