Oprah Winfrey Purchases CA Horse Farm For $28,850,000

BOZEMAN, Mont., Feb. 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Montanans will recognize Alan A. Armstrong as the purveyor of 272ALAN.com Quality Auctions. On a national scale, he is partners in Sage Auctions LLC. Alan and Sage Auctions have announced the sale of the Spencer T. Olin Trust owned Seamair farm in Montecito, California – Santa Barbara County, to Oprah Winfrey for a record selling price of $28,850,000. Armstrong stated, “After over 1,500 live and online auctions I’ve conducted since 1991, this was one of the most amazing and fascinating properties to work with.”

The Spencer T. Olin Trust contacted Sage Auctions LLC to conduct an auction of the 23 acre Seamair Farm in Montecito, California in the late summer of 2015. An auction was scheduled and conducted on November 18th, 2015. Escrow closed on February 5th, 2016. “The trustee indicated the property was very hard to value due to it’s size and unique location within Santa Barbara county,” said Mr. Armstrong.

According to the local Berkshire Hathaway Broker that Sage Auctions brought in to help with the auction in the local market, Dan Encell, the best a traditional sale would have been able to accomplish would be in the $20M range. Sage heavily emphasized archotypology in marketing this type of high end property. Sage’s process decoded the property personality and “positioned” the property to attract the perfect buyer. The research showed the property has a rich legacy and so was positioned as a “blank canvas” that would allow the right buyer an amazing opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

Sage’s marketing efforts attracted potential buyers from Dallas, Chicago, San Antonio, Silicon Valley, New York, Hawaii, most of California, and Hong Kong. Alan stayed at the farm for eight weeks during the marketing campaign.

What made this property favorable was Sage True Value “positioning.” Oprah paid several personal visits to make sure it would meet the promises the positioning highlighted. “Obviously, she really is a very smart buyer and knows what she’s doing. She had a number of experts inspect different aspects of the property and the extensive due diligence package we provided,” said Mr. Armstrong.

The Sage auction process allowed the buyer to select an appropriate price, as there were NO comparable properties in the area. In the end, Oprah was the high bidder and won the auction. “Oprah’s team was very professional and a pleasure to deal with,” Alan said. “We feel she will now have the opportunity to create her dream vision for what Seamair Farm will become.”

The Sage True Value process insures that the right person will pay the right price and will infuse their new property with vision, personality, and increased value.  The Sage Process can create a similar success for your property. Sage Auctions LLC is licensed in 9 states with offices in Montana, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, and Colorado.