The company decided against a conventional listing and hired Pittsburgh-based Harry Davis Real Estate to sell the Westmoreland County properties at auction. 

The auction delivered. The three stores sold for $4,982,500 in October.  And it took only 30 minutes of bidding for the money and property to change hands. 

"Auctions are fast, they're efficient, and they bring market value, if done properly," said Stanford G. Davis, president of Harry Davis Real Estate. 

Harry Davis Real Estate has always offered a complete menu of real estate services, including conventional listings.  But it was the decision nine years ago to specialize in real estate auctions that earned the company distinction in its market and positioned it to take advantage of an effective and increasingly popular way of selling property of all kinds. 

The Gabriel's sale was the highlight of a year in which the company sold a record $14.8 million worth of commercial, residential, and industrial property at auction.

Nationally, sales of real estate at auction now account for nearly 30% of all real estate sales, according to the National Auctioneers Association. 

An auction is an exciting event that offers buyers an enticing twist to the conventional sale: prices are not fixed by sellers, but are determined by the buyers themselves.

"Auction, in the buyer's mind, connotes bargain," Davis said.  "If there are five houses for sale in a neighborhood and one has an auction sign on it, people are going to visit the auction property."

Auctions not only stimulate interest, but kindle an urgency to buy.   The competitive bidding that results can drive up the price of a property.   "The auction is really the only way not to put a cap on the price," Davis said.

Another attraction is relatively fast sales.  Once set, the auction date becomes a target that all parties work toward.  On average, a property is sold within 45 days from the time the owner decides to list it for at auction.   The compressed sales period shortens the time owners have to carry properties on the market, saving them money. 

Harry Davis Real Estate, which cut its teeth on the sale of industrial equipment at auction decades ago, begins at least six weeks before auction day by launching an advertising and marketing campaign to identify potential buyers and whet their appetites for the pending sale. 

Prospects are assessed according to the nature of the property.   The target audience for an auction of a spacious Pittsburgh synagogue, for instance, included schools, churches, and institutions in the market for office and meeting space. 

The company casts its nets using direct mail advertising, postings on its Internet web site, notices to the brokerage community, and ads in newspapers, trade journals, and other publications, depending on the property listed.  The Gabriel's campaign for example, included ads in local business and general circulation newspapers, as well as the Wall Street Journal. 

Tours and open houses are an important and popular aspect of every campaign.  Between 20 and 30 potential buyers toured each of the Gabriel's properties prior to auction. 

With the auction date serving as a catalyst, prospective buyers are deliberate in their efforts to arrange inspections and complete their homework.   "We help them with their due diligence," Davis said.  "We take them through, whet their appetite, show them what we have to sell, and provide them with the information they need, so that when the gavel drops, we have a qualified buyer who enters into a non-contingent agreement to buy."

On auction day, some 20 registered bidders - by definition serious buyers - gathered at a Westmoreland County shopping center with their eye on the Gabriel's properties.  Bidding was competitive, brisk, and completed in less time than it takes to watch a television sitcom.  "That's the beauty of it," said Davis. "Auction day is decision day."