Minimum bid buys rare bay property

Perfectly situated and scented by salt and pine, the Bay Vista parcel was a steal – and stolen it was, for the rock-bottom bid of $950,000.

Auctioneer Butch Emmert stoked the crowd of a few dozen but to no avail. None budged above the minimum bid.

“I would have liked for it to get more money,” Emmert said. “But to be honest, if it isn’t a bargain, it’s probably not selling at all these days.”

The empty, 2.3-acre parcel sits at the end of Bay Vista Road in Rehoboth Beach, offering a peerless view of Rehoboth Bay. It was slated for auction Saturday, Oct. 3, along with an improved parcel with house and guest house, both owned by WBOC principal Tom Draper.

Emmert said the developed parcel, previously listed at $3 million, was sold Oct. 2, to a West Chester, Pa. buyer for more than $1.3 million.

Previously listed at $2 million, Emmert opened the bidding for the 2.3-acre parcel at $1.75 million. Facing a silent crowd, however, the price quickly plummeted to $950,000, where it received a single bid. “When this lot is gone,” Emmert told the crowd, “it’s the last available lot on this side of Rehoboth Bay.” But the crowd wouldn’t budge. He sold the house to Linda Delanio and Robin Dunlop, who own properties elsewhere in Rehoboth.

Emmert said a dismal housing market hasn’t wounded his business too badly. Emmert Auction Associates recently sold 46 Henlopen Ave. in Rehoboth for more than $1.3 million. Emmert said waterfront values might have dropped about 20 percent, while other markets have lost up to 35 percent.

“They’re not down anywhere like the rest of the country,” he said. “This illustrates that there’s still plenty of buyers, if you’re on the water or close to the water.”

But as Saturday’s bidding illustrated, buyers are drawn by exceptional value and may not want to invest much above minimum bid. After the housing market crashed, Emmert said, buyers are thinking about value and return on investment.

He took the minimum-bid sale in stride, later saying he sees it as a matter of equilibrium. “We enjoyed 10 or 11 fabulous real estate years in a row,” he said. “It had to level out some time.”