Editor's Note: This story and chart have been updated to reflect the newly corrected amounts of cash prizes won by companies that had employees participate in the first round of the Battle of the Bids competition. The information about which company's players won the second-highest amount of prizes also has been corrected.
Colliers players combined to win more cash than rival brokerages in round one of Ten-X's Battle of the Bids competition, buoyed by one of their own taking home the top prize.
Colliers' 275 brokers and professionals who played won a total of $107,000 in the round that ended last week, far outpacing rivals. Marcianne Foster, who accumulated the most points in the round, won $100,000 and accounted for more than 93% of Colliers employees' prize money.
Players from investment firm Mariner Cicero collected the second-highest amount of prizes, winning a combined $25,000. Marcus & Millichap players placed third with combined winnings of $20,000.
Betting in round two of Battle of the Bids is underway and ends Wednesday.
During the first-round action that started Sept. 18 and ended Sept. 21, 39 properties with an aggregate value of $102.2 million sold, according to Ten-X. Listed properties garnered an average of 13,103 views on the internet.
Battle of the Bids is a six-round competition in which players place bets each round on the final sale prices of 10 properties to be auctioned on Ten-X, the online commercial real estate exchange owned by CoStar Group, publisher of CoStar News. Ten-X is giving away prizes totaling up to $3 million, including a $1 million grand prize to the player who accumulates the most points across the six-round competition that Ten-X said is the biggest of its kind in commercial real estate.
Robert Krumholz, vice president of leasing at Atlanta-based retail investment and development firm Branch Properties, won $10,000 in round one. Betting on prices of land being sold at the auction proved key to his success, he said.
"I always feel like the land sales" are a safe bet, Krumholz said in an interview. "People who are buying land speculatively at that sub-million-price point still are always going to do it. It's not slowing them down even with what's going on today [in the market]."
At Branch, Krumholz finds sites for new grocery-anchored developments, so he also bets on some retail auctions. When he played Battle of the Bids last year, he said he noticed that "all of the vacant Pizza Huts always sold. The lower-priced items sell."
In addition to Krumholz, these players also won $10,000 in the first round of Battle of the Bids:
- Tom Tung, 2000 Gold LP
- Hugh Holtman, SVN | Imbrie Realty
- Matt Pauley, Mariner Cicero
- Evan Kurtz, Mariner Cicero
- Jacob Sly, SitusAMC Real Estate Valuation Services LLC
- Philip Kates, Marcus & Millichap
- Madison Mueller, American Equity Investment Life Holding Co
- Julien Min, Coldwell Banker Commercial Metro Brokers
- Andrew Ebrani, Namdar Realty Group.
With one prize won, Krumholz said he's looking forward to the next rounds of Battle of the Bids. "I love it," he said. "It's a free game with the chance to win lots of money."
More information about Battle of the Bids and how to sign up can be found here.