A most curious press release landed in the Unfair Park in-box late yesterday offering a South Side condo for the low, low price of ... well, whatever the highest bidder's willing to pay. If you go to iBidcondo's Web site, you'll see that on July 27, the company will be auctioning off a 1,300 square-foot, two-bedroom, fourth-floor residence in The Beat Condos at South Side, a Matthews Southwest development. Normally, says the press release, the spot sells for $280,000 -- but it's "expected to sell for between $50,000 - $100,000," says the release, citing its Austin auction (where a $690,000 pad went for $86,840) as proof that people really do win with iBidcondo.
I left a message for Jack Matthews this morning, but he was unavailable; so too were others Matthews Southwest execs. So, for now, all we have to go on is this quote from Matthews in the press release: "Our ideal buyers are trendsetters, so iBidcondo is a perfect outlet for The Beat. ... I truly see iBidcondo transforming the real estate market, and we're really excited to be a part of the future."
Update: Megan Palmer, who's doing PR for the auction, has posted a clarification in the comments. Here it is for those who may not make it that far:
The Beat condo has a retail value of $280,000 and is expected to sell for between $50,000 - $100,000. The seat sales to the auction will cover the cost of the property. Meaning for this particular auction, iBidcondo is expecting to sell approximately 2800 virtual auction seats at $100 a pop to make up the cost ($280,000).
The Beat Condos are not facing a bank foreclosure like some of your commentator's suspect. In healthy financial standing, the developers at Matthews Southwest are simply bringing The Beat Condos to the forefront of real estate by offering them in a unique, groundbreaking selling system that brings a win/win/win situation to the seller, the buyer and the community.
The actual winning bid are proceeds, and a net portion of those are then donated to a registered 501(c)(3) charity (usually 50-80% of the proceeds depending on taxes, fees, etc).
