Land Rush: Auctioning the Earth From Memphis and Destin
By Bruce Collier March 9, 2006 Issue

Mark Twain advised buying land, because “they’ve stopped making it.” Such is the case, but what hasn’t stopped are ways to make a living selling it. John Roebuck, of Memphis and Destin, has been selling real property nationwide since 1973. He does this a particularly old-fashioned way, by auction.

Roebuck is a licensed auctioneer and Realtor from Memphis, where the auctioneering bug first bit him at age 14. He has worked as a disc jockey, and in the oil and gas business. He once designed a computerized accounting program for farmers, and sold movable property at estate and garage sales. At age 42, Roebuck enrolled in auctioneer school in Kansas City, Mo.

“It was a two-week course,” he says, “accelerated.” Roebuck and his classmates spent intense sessions learning and perfecting their “chant,” the auctioneer’s rapid-fire patter and roll. “We did tongue-twisters, called out numbers,” he says, demonstrating the latter. The training emphasized clarity of diction and quickness of thought. “The DJ experience was helpful for voice, pronunciation, stage fright,” he says, adding, “and for getting over my Delta accent.”

Students participated in mock auctions, and then had a “final,” working at a real auction. Roebuck next had to satisfy Tennessee’s licensing authorities, eventually obtaining auctioneer and Realtor licenses. He worked out of Memphis, joining River City Auction. In time, he purchased the company, which he renamed John Roebuck & Associates, Inc.

The Destin office opened in 2003. In 2004, Roebuck purchased Delta Auction & Realty Co., and now operates as Roebuck Auctions. Though he is still active in Memphis and Destin, Roebuck himself plans to relocate here permanently very soon.

“The Emerald Coast is the premium opportunity to buy and sell in the world. It has everything to offer,” he says.

Framed on the wall of Roebuck’s private office are the front pages of two area newspapers, one for Hurricane Opal; the other for Hurricane Ivan. “[The market] is up and down,” he says, “it comes and goes.”

Roebuck Auctions’ Destin office occupies the second floor of a building housing several other businesses. Realtors and office staff work out of corner offices and desks around the room. Pausing to pose for a photo with Roebuck are broker/realtor Jeanne Fillingame, realtor Peggy Criser, and staff member Jennifer Roberts. There’s a rather conspicuous space in the middle of the office. This is for rows of chairs to be placed, when Roebuck Auctions brings in the bidders.

Auctions are held here, and elsewhere. Roebuck is preparing for a major auction, scheduled for April 1, for which he has booked the ballroom of a local hotel. The room can accommodate several hundred persons. Up for auction will be 19 Emerald Coast properties. Anticipating newcomers as well as experienced buyers, Roebuck is offering a seminar for buyers on March 31. The properties will be open for general inspection on March 18 and 25, or can be inspected by individual appointment.

As for the auction process itself, it’s apparently a lot like what you see on TV. The properties will be displayed, by large screen, with Roebuck chanting off the bids as they come in. Interested bidders communicate in various ways, by numbered paddle, and assorted signals: winks, nods, raised fingers, and so on. “You learn to read them,” says Roebuck. Bid assistants also walk among the crowd, answering questions and calling out bids.

There will be refreshments and socializing, and the action can get fast and furious. “We’ll sell [a property] every three or four minutes,” says Roebuck. In order to bid, potential buyers have to furnish letters of credit or deposit certified funds. Auctions can be “absolute,” in which the property sells to the highest bidder, or “reserve,” where the seller sets a confidential bottom line price, and can decline to sell if that minimum bid is not made.

Roebuck sees his company as a “pioneer.” Thanks in part to the proliferation of online auctions, he adds, the public no longer has the perception of auctions as associated only with death and bankruptcy.

Roebuck spends his off-duty time in a sort of busman’s holiday, charity auctions, working for the Tiger Woods Foundation and Saint Jude’s Research Hospital. He is also president and chairman of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA), and teaches continuing education for auctioneers and Realtors.

He plays golf a little, which helps when you have to sell Tiger Woods memorabilia. The Tiger Woods Foundation raises money for inner city and underprivileged children, and Roebuck has a lot of fun beating up the prices for charity’s sake.

“I sold a ‘Golf with Tiger’ package for $95,000. Angela Lansbury bought it for her grandson.” Roebuck also sold an autographed Woods putter for $23,000, and got $9,000 for an inexpensive wristwatch simply by asking Woods to wear it in a photograph, taken at the auction.

On March 17, Roebuck will join Donald Trump in Palm Beach at an auction for Saint Jude’s. He is also active with Boys and Girls Clubs and the American Heart Association.

“I’m doing something tonight,” he says, “I believe it’s for Eglin Air Force Force Base.”

Roebuck Auctions office address is 11714 Emerald Coast Parkway in Destin. The telephone number is 654-6000, or you can go online at www.RoebuckAuctions.com.

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