jones swenson auction news & information

In The Land Report article, America's Top 25 Auction Houses, which appears in the new Spring 2010 issue, United Country Auction Services is named the No. 1 Auction House in America.

United Country outranked companies including Schrader Auctions(#3), Westchester Auctions(#8), J.P. King(#9), Williams & Williams(#10), and Hudson & Marshall(#14). The report ranked auctions companies by land sales.

Here's what they said about United Country:

United Country Auction Services
www.ucauctionservices.com
$172 million

Who
In 2009, United and its affiliates conducted a staggering 1,100 auctions. Is it any wonder these guys are king of the hill? United Country is the nation's largest integrated real estate and auction company and the only franchise system specializing in rural towns and cities. The organization has some 675 offices nationwide, and its affiliate program includes auction houses large and small. Thanks to this depth, the staff of United Country Auction Services includes multiple international and state auctioneer champions and Auctioneers Hall of Fame inductees.
"We currently have $18 billion of listed inventory nationally, much of which is land, and about 450 scheduled auctions in the next 90 days," CEO Dan Duffy says. "We run and operate 1,000-plus web sites that generate 173 million hits, over 50 million page views, and 2.9 million visitors last month alone (December 2009)."

Where
Corporate headquarters are in Kansas City, Missouri. Affiliated offices are located nationwide.

Why
"We have 18 specialty property groups that focus on various types of properties on a national level including timberland, farm and agricultural, and recreational," Duffy explains. "Our go-to-market strategy and scope of resources provides us with a unique strategic advantage in the market and an ability to serve national companies and hedge funds in a manner that results in a high volume of deal flow." Over 4,000 representatives spread over 45 states translates into an enviable network. Also, the company's proprietary national buyer database has over 300,000 profiled names.

Wow
United Country was named No. 95 on Entrepreneur's 2009 Top 100 Franchises. It was also named the top real estate franchise in the country by Dun and Bradstreet's AllBusiness.com.