Breaking: The Auction at Lee Kleinman’s House on Ricks Circle is Canceled

September 27, 2019 | Candy Evans | | Auction Alert!

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Comes word from Elite Auctions Marketing Director Alicia Chmielewski that the no-reserve auction for Dallas City Councilman Lee Kleinman’s home in Hillcrest Estates has been canceled. The no-reserve auction was to take place at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 28. We are told that a pre-auction offer has been accepted by the sellers, Kleinman and his wife, Dr. Lisa Umholtz.

In fact, the home now shows pending sale status in MLS.

The price on the contract is confidential. All we know is “the price was acceptable to the buyer and seller.”

“I’m pleased to report that the seller has received and accepted a pre-auction offer from a buyer who didn’t wish to compete at auction,” said Chmielewski. “As a result, the auction that was scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled. We look forward to bringing luxury home buyers more beautiful home auction opportunities both locally and across the nation.”

The home at 11322 East Ricks Circle was built in 1993, by AIA Fellow, Gregory Ibanez, of Fort Worth-based Ibanez Shaw, who was a protege of I.M Pei. Pei, of course, designed Dallas City Hall. Ibanez’s notable resume includes the design of the upper Greenhill School and the acclaimed remodel of Casa Mañana. The five-bedroom, six-full, two-half-bathroom home was also a fixture on the Raymond Nasher Tour of Homes back in 1996, as well as the Northaven Tour of Homes. The home was first listed with Kyle Rovinsky of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate for $4,567,890, then lowered to $3.95 million. Ultimately the home’s price came down to $3.795, first with Rovinsky, then with Allie Beth Allman and Christine McKenny. The home is now listed by Cliff Freeman of eXp Realty, and had a suggested asking price of $3.5 million .

While the asking price is a clue as to how much it will take to pull a home from the auction, it is not necessarily the sales price. The home is expected to close October 28. It is actually not uncommon for homes to sell prior to auction: same thing happened at 4525 Catina Lane, which was listed at $4,450,000, and later slated for auction under Ryan Streiff. The home sold pre-auction July 10. The estate at 4525 Catina had also been marketed by Evan Stewart.

4525 Catina

“I can’t say how great it makes me feel to help a seller and their listing agent that’s tried and tried to sell, actually achieve their goals of attaining market value in a short time period,” says Chmielewski. “It’s gratifying beyond explanation!”

Auctions are a great way to motivate sellers as well as buyers: buyers don’t want to risk being outbid on a home at auction, and sellers may prefer to sell prior to auction to a contracted amount.

Of note: this sharp pre-auction buyer, whoever they are, saved paying a 10 percent buyer’s surcharge to be paid at auction, by purchasing the home the day before.

“After being on the market for two years with declining activity, Alicia and Elite Auction were able to bring hundreds of people and several showings in less than 30 days,” Kleinman told me. “That flurry of activity resulted in a satisfactory offer that we accepted before the auction date.”

Posted in Auction Alert!