DeCaro Auctions, a boutique luxury real estate auction house with more than 40 years in the business, announced the launch of two specialist divisions: Trusts & Estates, serving attorneys, wealth managers, family offices and other fiduciaries, and Sports & Entertainment, serving athletes, entertainers and the managers who represent them. The firm says it is the first luxury real estate auction firm to create dedicated divisions for these clients. The move matters because many high-value property sales are set in motion not by sellers or real estate agents but by trustees settling estates, attorneys handling divorces and family offices managing a principal's real estate, groups that DeCaro argues have never been shown what an auction can deliver.
The divisions are led by Sonny Saito, managing director of Trusts & Estates and head of Sports & Entertainment, whose background spans private equity, private banking, wealth management and family offices. Saito previously served as CEO of Christie's International Real Estate in Japan and is an alumnus of the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is joined by Avery Irwin, director of Trusts & Estates and Sports & Entertainment, who came to DeCaro from wealth management roles at Morgan Stanley and Fisher Investments.
"The advisors behind the most significant estates, fortunes and careers have been underserved. Most have never been shown what an auction can do for their clients," Saito said. "Together with Avery and our team, we can now give them what they've been missing: a firm date, a private process and a result they can stand behind." Mario Vargas, partner and CEO of DeCaro Auctions, said auction companies have traditionally marketed to sellers and agents. "Every auction firm talks to sellers and agents. Nobody has told trust attorneys, wealth managers and family offices that we're a tool for them," Vargas said. "No one has spoken to the professionals directly."
The Trusts & Estates division focuses on situations where a property has to sell on a timeline, including heirs who disagree, such as siblings who inherit a home where some want to keep it and others want the proceeds; a divorce decree requiring a shared home to be sold and the proceeds split; an inherited property the heirs will not use but must keep paying taxes, insurance and maintenance on; and an owner who needs to free up capital held in real estate for a new investment. Family offices are another focus. "Most of the sellers who come to us aren't in financial distress. They're in time distress," Vargas said. "Time is the most important thing in the world, and auctions give you time."
The Sports & Entertainment division serves athletes and entertainers whose careers can require a fast move, such as a mid-season trade, typically working through their agents and business managers. It works under nondisclosure agreements and does not use a client's name or story publicly without permission. DeCaro is also placing its entire company under a permanent, company-wide NDA. Past sports clients include Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., who chose DeCaro to sell his home.
Both divisions use the same date-certain process DeCaro runs for every sale: typically about 30 days of marketing tailored to each property, one week of bidding and closing in 30 days or less. DeCaro works with a listing agent on every sale, protects the agent's commission and coordinates with each client's attorneys, managers and advisors. More information on both divisions is available on DeCaro's specialties page, and the firm's broader auction platform is described at DeCaro Auctions. For attorneys, fiduciaries and athlete representatives, the launch signals a new option for liquidating luxury property on a defined schedule rather than an open-ended listing.
