This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Offer on 10 Charles Avenue Accepted in Two-Hour Bidding Process

Round robin bidding for 10 Charles Ave. began Feb. 27 at 6 p.m., ending with an accepted offer.

A home listed for $160,000 in Port Washington came on the market on Feb. 15, causing a flurry of activity and interest. The five-bedroom, two-bathroom colonial was built in 1914, and sits on a large piece of property, 7,850 square feet. It is not a short sale or bank-owned property, and is being sold by the Zion Baptist Church in Port Washington. It is described in Multiple Listing Service of Long Island as being in "poor" condition – and it is. There is clear evidence that the house has been neglected and in disrepair for many years.

The agent for the property, Dean Miller of RE/MAX Island in Hewlett, NY, employs his own proprietary selling systems, and for this home, used a round robin bidding process. The agent held two open houses, on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and was accepting bids from prospective buyers during those hours. I spoke to Miller at the open house on Sunday afternoon, and he had already received 21 bids on the property, with four more received by 6 p.m. that evening. One of the bids was made sight unseen. After 6 p.m., the round robin bidding began by telephone.

I followed up with Miller on Monday, and he explained the bidding process and the results. On Sunday evening, during the course of two hours, the potential buyer pool was narrowed down to three very interested parties during five rounds of bidding. Each bidder knew the last highest bid and was given a chance to bid higher in $500 increments. 

Find out what's happening in Port Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once they got down to the final three bidders, buyers were questioned about the specifics of their financing. One was an all cash buyer who is an investor, one was looking at a 203k mortgage (a program where the cost of renovation can be borrowed and included in the mortgage) and planning on using the property as their primary residence, and the final potential buyer was going to attempt to purchase with a 65 percent conventional mortgage. After much discussion with each of the remaining three bidders, the investor stepped up with a substantial increase in his bid, causing the other two bidders to withdraw. The final accepted price is undisclosed at this point, but the sellers appeared to be extremely happy with the price and terms.

It is unknown whether the buyer plans to tear the house down or renovate. I spoke to Port resident Jeffrey Suria, whose parents live next door. He remembers playing in the house as a kid and has watched it deteriorate over recent years. Although the house has some wonderful original features like the porch and some stained glass, his feeling is that the house will have to be torn down.

Find out what's happening in Port Washingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?