TOMBSTONE — This school district’s governing board got a crash course in real estate auctioneering on Thursday when John Weaver, an auctioneer/broker with Southwest Real Estate Auctioneers, provided an informational session on alternative methods beyond traditional Realtors to liquidate district assets.

The governing board has already issued a request for proposal to Realtors who may have clients interested in acquiring several properties the board has been authorized by voters to sell or lease.

Most notable among those properties is the old Tombstone High School on Fremont Street, which has been commercially appraised at slightly more than $1 million.

“An auction creates a sense of urgency,” Weaver told the board members, who convened in the district office building along with Superintendent Karl Uterhardt and legal counsel Candyce Pardee. “And it’s not unusual to secure a price that is 20 to 30 percent over fair market value.”

Ostensibly, Weaver’s purpose was to give the board an overview of the public auction process. His company, with offices in Phoenix and Tucson, has experience with a range of commercial and public real estate sales. He was accompanied by Bill Anastopoulos, a co-founder of Tucson Mortgage Co.

The men were persuasive enough that following their informational presentation, the board voted to “expand” the RFP to include auction houses and to notify Realtors already contacted that they were doing so.

“With an auction,” Weaver advised the board, “you get to set the terms and conditions, not the potential buyer. In fact, if you aren’t happy with the bids, you don’t have to accept. But regardless of who handles your auction, there are a number of things to keep in mind.”

Weaver said that important considerations are the timing of an auction, the commission or fees requested, and the budget, scope and schedule for marketing.

“Do you want to market in Denver, Albuquerque, Nevada, California?” he asked rhetorically.

“You want a nice brochure and a targeted mailing. A simple public notice isn’t enough. You don’t want some good ol’ boy down the street buying your property and then a guy shows up from Scottsdale saying he would have paid a lot more if he had known about it.”

Weaver also counseled the board to have any sales representative prepare a bidders information kit that would include all terms and conditions, a survey of the properties, the title report, zoning information and key environmental information.

“Reputable auctioneers will pre-qualify interested parties,” he said. “You might even consider carrying the paper for a short period of time, assuming a nice down payment.”

He further suggested that an auction can condense the time  frame  for  a  sale  because of the board’s ability to  set  the  terms  and  conditions.

“Traditional closings are typically buyer-driven,” Weaver reminded the board. “It can go on for months. You get one shot at selling this real estate.”

In response to questions, Weaver said only once in 25 years has he held an auction and nobody came, that only three times has a deal fallen through, and that a marketing budget for the Tombstone properties would “likely” be upward of $12,000.

“I don’t know what the highest and best use of your property is,” he said. “But we work for you. We discover and disclose information to interested parties and hold buyers’ seminars in advance. When the auction is complete, we write an immediate contract.”

He also said the auction could be held “live” with  both physical and online opportunities to bid, and the board should consider offering the old high school property in several parcels or tracts. In addition to the school itself, there is the gymnasium, the old shop building and the athletic field.

Potential purchasers may want only one or several of the tracts — a situation that could work to the school district’s advantage if a bidding “war” emerged.

Board member Carol Cowan expressed the concern of many Tombstone residents regarding any changes to the school building’s historic exterior.

“Be careful about restrictions,” Weaver said. “It could do something to your price, and this ain’t the best time in the market.”

He allowed, however, that what Tombstone had to offer actually went beyond real estate.

“You’ve got a legend,” he said.

Board member Anna McMurtrie was absent.

herald/review reporter Cindy Skalsky can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at cindy.skalsky@svherald.com.