Unusual auction set next month for lot on Dewees Island, reachable only by water craft

If you plan on a whim to drive past the property up for auction at 17 Pelican Flight Drive, think again.

The lot, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, is located on Dewees Island. As the crow flies, the island is not that far from the Isle of Palms. One problem: flying is not an option. Neither is land travel.

Dewees Island is not the typical Lowcountry barrier isle, surrounded by creeks and accessible by bridge. It is an honest-to-goodness strip of high ground that can’t be scaled except by boat, or a really, really good long-distance swimmer.

It’s not a real-life “Castaway,” though, no hairy former pilots or volleyballs named Wilson.

Despite its vehicular isolation, the island has 150 homes and home sites. Golf carts are the chief form of motor-powered transportation.

Mount Pleasant-based Harper Auction & Realty has scheduled the public bidding event Dec. 10 beginning at 10 a.m. at Morgan Creek Grill at the Isle of Palms Marina, just across the inlet from Dewees Island. Auctioneer-broker Mike Harper says that “the logistics of having an on-site auction at Dewees are tough.”

The minimum bid is $149,000, which he says is less than 10 percent of the lot’s market price three years ago.

Harper describes the island as an “exclusive ocean-side conservation barrier island community. Even a high end location such as Dewees is not immune (from) this tough real estate market,” he says. “This is indeed a ‘sign of the times.’”

According to Harper, “Real estate auctions have been quite rare in this environment.” He says his firm has been one of the few successful oceanfront auction houses, selling at least 10 oceanfront properties on Figure Eight Island in North Carolina and on Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms.

With the Dewees lot sale, pre-auction previews will be by appointment since potential bidders are required to take a ferry ride to the island. Those wishing to tour the property can contact Harper Auction & Realty or their real estate agent to make an appointment. There is a fully refundable “auction deposit” to register to bid. Spectators are welcome.

“The auction method of marketing is the truest form of price discovery in a market plagued by numerous listings and few buyers,” contends Harper, who is designated by the National Auctioneers Association as a Certified Auctioneer Institute Graduate (CAI) and Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate (AARE).

“Real estate auctions are not for everyone,” he says. “But if a seller is willing to trust the market and wants to sell quickly in order to save months or years of carrying costs, then it is the only way to set your sale date and move on,” he believes.

Modern technology, beefed up marketing and the addition of professional full-time real estate auctioneers have changed the bidding landscape, says Harper, who is also the auction and realty company’s broker-in charge.

“Auctions are no longer the old ‘courthouse steps’ affairs of the past,” Harper says.

For more information, visit www.harperauctionandrealty.com.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com.