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With a steady stream of attendees outside his hotdog cart, Patty
O'Pete, who sells food at all of Daniel's auctions, scoped out
the size of the crowd.
"This attendance is 30
to 40 percent higher than his other auctions," he said. "I've
been real busy since I got here at 5:30 p.m."
Just as O'Pete packed coolers
loaded with bottles of water and cans of soda, bidders relied on
plenty of preparation. Armed with a clipboard of notes as
he pored over a map of the properties, Wes page admitted he
really only forgot one thing.
"The only thing I didn't
do was bring enough money with me," said the Boca Raton resident
who owns some investment property in Port St. Lucie. He was
looking to land another lot.
"You can imagine the amount of
money you can make, and that's what they're all thinking," he
said, surveying the steadily growing crowd.
With earpieces from two cell phones dangling from each ear,
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James Banselan, a real estate agent
representing Boca Raton based Suneast Land Development, jockeyed
for bidding position. he feared the crowd would drive up
prices.
"Builders want the market value,"
he said. "Individuals, they get in the heat of the moment and
they keep going up."
The specter of
higher prices pleased Edward Cunningham, spokesman for the city,
which puts the plots up for sale to lower its 6 million dollar
debt incurred from the 2001 purchase of the Saints At Port St.
Lucie Golf Course from Sandpiper Resorts.
"The competition should work on our favor," he said.
Daniel highlighted Cunningham's hopes when he eased the anxious
crowd with lighthearted lessons on auction etiquette.
"Could I see a show of hand if you've never been at an public
auction before," he said, and nearly half went up. "Now leave
your hand up and you're gonna have a Ph.D. in auction bidding.
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"Remember, it's not
'cause you have the prettiest blonde hair," he continued. "It's
not 'cause you have the nicest smile. The highest bidder
prevails."
When Daniel announced the
auction would be high bidder's choice rather than bidding on
individual lots, Ricky Welsch of Port St. Lucie groaned.
"One guy will buy them all," he said. "You'll see a lot of
people mad, I would imagine,"
As the
bidding climbed to the low $50,000s, those with the means and
designs to buy blocks of lots, like John Stefan of the Palm City based
Mercedes Homes, bowed out.
"I thought
they'd go for $35,000 to $40,000," said the Stuart resident.
"These lots are a year down the road of these prices. I mean,
$50,000 for these lots is crazy."
ike.crumpler@scripps.com
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