During the past few years, several companies started Web sites to allow home hunters to browse available property without going door to door. But Tuesday, two shoppers were able to buy Austin homes online.

Homesbyauction.com, an Austin-based company, closed its first local online auction at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Of the five properties offered, two found buyers.

Officials from the site -- founded by Gary Keller of Keller Williams Realty -- said that despite the lower-than-expected sales rate, they aren't giving up. By the end of June, the company plans to have conducted auctions in Austin, El Paso and Tampa, Fla.

"There's nothing worse than losing a home because you weren't sitting at the table at the right time," said David Tennant, vice president of Homesbyauction.com. "With auctioning, it gives everyone a chance to get a bid in fairly."

Homesbyauction.com aims to give home buyers an alternative within the traditional real estate system. Upcoming auctions are advertised in advance, giving buyers a chance to examine the house in person with help from the listing agent.

Bidding starts at a pre-set number, and sellers reserve the right to refuse bids below a certain amount. Once bidding ends, buyers and sellers move into contract negotiations.

Jan Tarnow, manager of the National Association of Realtors' commercial real estate area, said online auctions could be "a wave of the future."

"As the Internet becomes more popular as a way to find properties, I think it will become a way to purchase and sell properties," she said.

Citing Homesbyauction.com's affiliation with Keller Williams, she predicted the company would be "very successful, because they have a good working model already."

Kevin Scragg, a listing agent with Keller Williams and the owner of one of the properties sold in Tuesday's auction, said the online bidding process went smoothly. Only one person bid on Scragg's new Legend Oaks condominium, but the bidder surpassed Scragg's reserve price, jumping more than $16,000 over his opening price of $142,110.

"A lot of people shop online anyhow," Scragg said. "(This) makes it a lot easier for them to do. It cuts out running around. . . . It simplifies real estate."

The second house that sold, at 4009 Burnet Road, received a $306,100 bid -- just below the seller's reserve price. Agents worked after the auction officially closed to reach a deal.

Diane Kennedy, past chairwoman of the Austin Board of Realtors and a sales agent at Coldwell Banker Richard Smith, questioned whether potential buyers in Austin are willing to wait out the results of an auction.

"Most buyers come in and need to buy a house in several days, so that's not a real viable source for them," Kennedy said.

But Tennant said his company had established the lengths of auctions and preview periods to accommodate buyers short on time.

"There will be people who say, `Hey, I've got to put in an offer right now,' " Tennant said. "But now it's a system where all buyers have a chance to bid."



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