The Lund Company is firmly established in the Omaha real estate market, but that doesn’t mean the work gets easier. John Lund, the founder and chairman of the company had been trying for months, with no success, to sell the 95,000-plus-square foot Blondo Plaza shopping center. Nothing seemed to be happening.

So, with partner Cushman and Wakefield, Lund took a different approach and put the property up to bid on Ten-X, the online property auction platform.

The move worked.

Lund said using the online auction platform via Ten-X was something his company had never done before, but added it was a great experience.

“The whole thing unfolded smoothly and quickly – we got a buyer in just 76 days on the market, much faster than normal,” Lund recalled. “I think Ten-X is going to become an important component of Omaha real estate going forward.”

After teaming with Ten-X, the property was viewed more than 7,800 times with 99 potential bidders signing confidentiality agreements to learn more. The auction took place among seven approved bidders who had demonstrated their ability and willingness to close on the property.

In the end the winning bid was submitted by an Omaha-based professional associate of Lund, who hadn’t learned about the opportunity through the usual local channels. It sold at 108% of seller’s reserve, the undisclosed minimum price that can be accepted, or a little more than $2.4 million.

Marjorie Patton, Senior Account Executive for Ten-X in the Mountain Region was not surprised. She recalled that the company was founded 13 years ago as part of Auction.com with the idea of bringing the speed and certainty of auctions to the Commercial Real Estate space. Ten-X was acquired in 2020 by CoStar Group, a Washington, D.C.-based technology company.

According to Patton, Ten-X assembles the most expansive pool of investors with unmatched intelligence assets, advanced technology, and the only end-to-end auction platform so they can create an online exchange where brokers, sellers/owners and investors can buy and sell properties in the most efficient and effective possible way. Such saves are becoming increasingly popular in the Omaha real estate market.

Patton emphasizes that every Ten-X transaction requires a broker and, to date, more than 6,400 brokers across the United States have partnered with Ten-X to help make a market and find buyers for their client’s commercial properties.

“Today, with over $31 billion sold and over 10,000 transactions closed on our platform, Ten-X is the No. 1 exchange for buying and selling commercial real estate online,” she stated. 

Ten-X accelerates the sales process, according to Patton, who said it makes the process twice as fast and twice as certain. While a traditional sale timeline can take upwards of six months. That’s what happens when marketing, outreach, underwriting, price negotiations, due diligence and, as she stated, in most cases a buyers’ final attempt at a re-trade on the deal before closing.

“It’s a long process, and it can be bumpy,” Patton said. “With a Ten-X auction sale, the process is condensed to under 100 days from list to close — a 45-day marketing and due diligence period, a two- or three-day auction, and a 30-day closing period.”

Listing a property on Ten-X is free, Patton stated, with zero out of pocket costs to the listing broker or the seller. Brokers get their commissions just like they normally do in an offline sale.

“Ten-X covers due diligence and all costs for a world-class marketing program for properties on our platform,” she emphasized. “And if the property doesn’t trade at auction, the seller still owes nothing, creating an incredibly low risk environment to transact.”

 There is no cost for buyers to bid on Ten-X, Patton offered. Bidders only need to get pre-approved and provide proof of funds for the property. “The winning buyer pays a premium to Ten-X – we have the competitive fee structure amongst our auction competitors.” 

The platform has a specific focus and Ten-X transacts only commercial real estate property and notes.

“We sell all types of properties including hotels, offices, retail, industrial, multifamily, and specialty properties,” Patton explained. “In the first half of this year hotels have been incredibly successful on the platform, trading at a rate of over 80% with office and retail following closely behind.” 

Blondo Plaza wasn’t the only recent success story for Ten-X. Patton pointed out that in the past 12 months the platform was able to transact three retail buildings, two hotels, one office building, and a piece of land in Nebraska without having a team fully dedicated to the state. 

“Most notable was the sale of Farnam Executive Center office building,” she pointed out. “This was an over 92,000 square feet, vacant office building that needed a refresh.”

The auction produced 14 approved bidders and 87 bids during the two-day auction, and in what she termed “a tough market for office property” came in at over 172% of seller’s reserve. It only took 84 days from list to close, Patton affirmed, and sold for more than $4.7 million.

 Lund apparently likes what he’s seen and said he plans to work with Ten-X in the future.

“We’re already looking at our portfolio to determine which properties are the best fit for another Ten-X auction,” he stated.