CHICAGO—Earlier this year, Sperry Van Nesslaunched a Chicago-based franchise, calledAuctionWorks, which hosts multi-property auctionsonline, and in November it will hold its largest auction to date,with more than 90 listings. Nearly half of the properties arebank-owned, including 17 that the firm will sell absolute. The Nov.24-26 auction includes office, medical office, industrial, retail,mixed-use, single-family, multi-family, and vacant land. A Juneonline auction by SVN AuctionWorks listed 27 properties. Buyers can bid online or submitpre-auction offers.

“I've found that live auctions were not very exciting becausethe best properties usually sold long before the auction,”Diana Peterson, the president of SVN AuctionWorks,told GlobeSt.com. The online method combines efficiency andconvenience with the competitive bidding an auction inspires.Previously, Peterson was an executive vice president ofAuctions by ATG, where she was responsible forbuilding the firm's auction platform.

“The sheer volume of properties in this online auction speaks tothe firm's success and demonstrates how many owners and brokers arenow turning to SVN AuctionWorks to sell their properties in anefficient and timely manner,” she added. “Banks especially havefound our online auctions to be an ideal venue for selling theirREOs.”