The Hamptons are an iconic place in America, really not like anywhere else and the rules they follow are not like anywhere else. For example, home and property auctions are a different breed.

In the rest of America, if you are auctioning off the property or home, there is a base for bidding to start and if bids hit a certain level then the deal must happen. But not in the Hamptons where properties are being auctioned without a minimum reserve price or any expectation of the owner to take a deal. Imagine winning the auction but not getting the home sold to you?

And what if the winning bidder is a minority, would they have a fair housing lawsuit? Most real estate agents would be quaking in this situation.

But not for an auction in the Hamptons. It is a different world.

Other real estate brokers have taken issue with labeling the event an auction, calling it a gimmick and a sham. Yet their estimates of the value of the property, which has 350 feet of waterfront on the pond, vary from $12 million to $25 million.
The breadth of that range seems to invite bidders to set the price, which is just how Diane Saatchi, the broker with Corcoran’s East Hampton office who is handling the auction, would have it.
“We didn’t want to create a base price or a ceiling” price that bidders might gravitate toward, Ms. Saatchi said. She scheduled a similar event four years ago involving two lots on Georgica Pond in East Hampton, but a pre-emptive offer of $20 million was accepted before it ever took place. via the  New York Times

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