J. Durham and Associates

What J. Durham and Associates does

J. Durham and Associates (legal entity: J. Durham & Associates, Inc.) is a privately held auction firm founded in 1977 by Joseph P. Durham in Albany, Georgia, and operating continuously under founder leadership. The firm conducts real estate auctions (farmland, residential, commercial, industrial, resort, and undeveloped tracts) and equipment/personal property auctions (farm equipment, construction equipment, industrial machinery, vehicles), with a particular focus on bank-owned REO liquidation, court-ordered probate/estate sales, and corporate asset disposition. Its primary customers are banks and lending institutions, attorneys and trustees, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and other governmental entities, corporations needing liquidation, and individual property owners across the Southeast US, with recent westward expansion into Oklahoma, Nevada, and Utah.

The firm operates a proprietary online auction platform that supports both live on-site and internet-based bidding. The platform includes a Dynamic Closing feature that automatically extends the closing time by four minutes whenever a bid is placed in the final minutes of an item's closing window, and a Staggered Closing system that closes lots at four-items-per-minute intervals to emulate the cadence of a live auction. Beyond online bidding, the firm uses a multi-channel marketing apparatus spanning direct mail, newspaper and periodical advertising, billboards, radio/television, telemarketing, broker participation, and auction-awareness seminars to attract buyers. Field sales coordinators meet clients face-to-face, evaluate properties, develop marketing plans, show properties to buyers, and conduct auctions; the company maintains a headquarters in Albany, GA, an auction grounds location in Dawson, GA, and marketing centers in Atlanta, GA and Tallahassee, FL.

Revenue is generated through transaction fees: a 15% buyer's premium on equipment auctions and a 10% buyer's premium on real estate auctions, plus seller-side commissions that may be elected in lieu of the buyer's premium. Real estate transactions close within 30-40 days with an earnest money deposit of 15% of contract price. The firm also offers direct 'For Sale' listings outside the auction model. The CEO holds the CAI (Certified Auctioneers Institute) designation, and the firm is recognized by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court as a qualified auction provider. No external funding, no M&A activity, no AI/ML capabilities, and no technology acquisitions are disclosed.

Name

J. Durham and Associates

Legal name

J. Durham & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://jdurhamauctions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

J. Durham and Associates is a Georgia-based auction firm, founded in 1977, that conducts real estate and equipment auctions across the Southeast US and select western states for banks, attorneys, government entities, corporations, and individual property owners via live and online bidding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Auction Services

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Auction Services (FSAEAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Land & Farm/Ranch Real Estate Auctions (BPAJAEAD), Bankruptcy, Probate & Estate Property Auctions (BPAJAEAG), Industrial Real Estate Auctions (BPAJAEAC)

Keywords

• Real estate auctions
• Auction services
• Estate liquidations
• Equipment auctions
• Farmland auctions

Headquarters

HQ city

Albany

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Buyer's Premium: The company charges a buyer's premium on all auction purchases. For equipment auctions, a 15% buyer's premium is added to purchases. For real estate auctions, a 10% buyer's premium is typically applied. This premium is added to the winning bid amount to arrive at the total purchase price.
2. Auction Commission from Sellers: Like real estate brokers, auctioneer's charge a commission as a percentage of the sales price that is pre-determined. Sellers can choose between a traditional commission charge or the more modern method of a buyer's premium.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

J. Durham and Associates is a full-service auction firm that liquidates real estate and equipment on behalf of sellers such as banks, attorneys, estates, corporations, and individual landowners. Core auctions cover farmland, residential, commercial, industrial, resort, and undeveloped land, plus farm/construction equipment and personal property, conducted both live on-site and via an online bidding platform with staggered and dynamic closing features.

Product overview

J. Durham and Associates operates as a traditional real estate auction company offering a portfolio of auction and sale services. The core offering consists of real estate auctions (farmland, residential, commercial, industrial, estates) and equipment/personal property auctions, all conducted via online bidding platforms. The company also maintains a 'For Sale' section for direct property and equipment listings. Services are delivered through their proprietary online auction platform with features including staggered closing times and dynamic closing extensions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Real Estate Auction Services Full-service real estate auction platform handling farmland, residential, commercial, industrial, resort properties, and undeveloped land throughout the Southeast U.S.
• Online Auctions

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Proxibid: Proxibid is an online auction marketplace connecting buyers with auctioneers across heavy equipment, real estate, and government asset categories. It is an emerging/technology peer providing infrastructure that both augments and competes with J. Durham's proprietary platform for online bidder access and seller lead generation.
• HiBid (Bidsquare): HiBid is an online auction aggregator that hosts auctions for hundreds of independent auctioneers across real estate, equipment, and personal property categories. It is an emerging/technology peer that competes for the same online bidder pool as J. Durham's proprietary auction platform while enabling competing auctioneers to scale their digital reach.

Direct peers

• Tranzon Asset Services: Tranzon is a national network of real estate auction companies serving banks, developers, government entities, and individuals with accelerated property sales. It is a direct peer in real estate auction services, sharing similar seller-commission and buyer's premium revenue models and overlapping customer segments in distressed asset disposition.
• Williams & Williams Worldwide Real Estate Auction: Williams & Williams is one of the largest real estate auction firms in the U.S., conducting live and online auctions of residential, commercial, and land assets. It is a direct peer to J. Durham, operating in the same core service — real estate auctions — with comparable buyer's premium economics and a similar institutional client base of banks, courts, and trustees.

Broad incumbents

• Auction.com: Auction.com, owned by CoStar Group, is the largest online residential foreclosure and bank-owned property auction marketplace. It is a broad incumbent serving the same bank REO and distressed property disposition need as J. Durham but at a national scale with vastly greater buyer liquidity and technology infrastructure.
• Barrett-Jackson Auction Company: Barrett-Jackson is a leading collector car and personal property auction firm with a national brand and live televised events. It is a broad incumbent peer through J. Durham's equipment/personal property auction capability, though J. Durham's category mix is heavier toward real estate and farm/forestry equipment.
• Heritage Auctions: Heritage Auctions is the largest collectibles and specialty auction house in the U.S., with a strong online bidding platform. It is a broad incumbent operating across adjacent asset classes (collectibles, art) with overlapping online auction technology infrastructure that competes for institutional estate disposition mandates.
• Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers: Ritchie Bros. (now part of RB Global) operates one of the world's largest industrial equipment and vehicle auction platforms. It is a broad incumbent peer through J. Durham's equipment and personal property auction line, with significantly larger scale, online bidding technology (rbauction.com), and global buyer pools.

Regional players

• Barlow Auctions: Barlow Auctions is a regional auction firm in the Southeast U.S. conducting real estate, estate, and equipment auctions. It is a regional peer to J. Durham with comparable service offerings, similar buyer premium structures, and overlapping geographic coverage in Georgia and surrounding states.
• Higgenbotham Auctioneers: Higgenbotham is a regional auction firm focused on real estate, equipment, and estate auctions across the Southeast U.S. It is a regional peer to J. Durham, operating with a similar service mix (real estate + equipment), similar buyer's premium economics, and overlapping geographic coverage in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jdurhamauctions
• Facebookfacebook.com/jdurhamauction
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/durham-associates-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about J. Durham and Associates