The town of Great Barrington's first foreclosure property auction held at the Town Hall on Friday, January 30 at 1 p.m., was a success. The town accepted bids on 10 of the 13 land parcels on the auction block. Sullivan & Sullivan Auctioneers, LLC conducted the auction on behalf of the town. A diverse assortment of parcels were offered at the public auction ranging from 1 and 2 acre individual, contiguous lots located in a residential area to smaller parcels close to the center of town. All of the properties have been held by the town through foreclosure for more than 4 years.
"This was an exciting opportunity for property owners of the town to finally purchase abutting property," said Marianne Sullivan, president of Sullivan & Sullivan. "The town's auction was a unique venue for prospective buyers to come together in a public forum and bid based what they consider to be fair market value."
Town officials were elated with the outcome, placing the properties back on the tax rolls. "Town treasurer Sandra Larkin and assessor Chris Lamarre worked very hard with Sullivan & Sullivan to organize Great Barrington's first tax lien auction," said town manager Jennifer Tabakin. "We are all very pleased with the results and so are the buyers of the parcels."
Sullivan & Sullivan, based in Sandwich, Mass., has been selling commercial properties in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire since the company's inception in 2007. While municipal auctions are a rare opportunity, in 2014 Sullivan & Sullivan conducted 9 public auctions for 7 towns selling a total of 53 properties for the municipalities.
The real estate closing will be handled by attorney Dawn Bloom, who was appointed as special counsel for the property auction. The closings for the properties are to occur within 30 days of the auction.