Selling a property quickly and at the right price requires more than listing it on MLS and waiting. For many property owners across Middle Tennessee, that reality has driven them toward a firm that has operated differently since the beginning — combining licensed real estate brokerage with professional auctioneering under one roof.
Comas Montgomery Realty and Auction Co., Inc. has served the Murfreesboro area since 1973, building a reputation around a sales model that most traditional real estate offices simply don’t offer. Whether you’re looking to sell farmland, liquidate an estate, or move a commercial building fast, understanding how this firm works — and where it fits — helps you decide if it’s the right match for your situation.
The Firm’s Origins and What the Name Stands For
Comas Montgomery Realty and Auction Co. was established in 1973 by Comas Montgomery, who built the business around a straightforward philosophy: get property and assets sold efficiently, with the right mix of marketing and the right audience in the room.
Today, the firm is led by Carl Montgomery — son of the founder — who holds licenses as a licensed real estate broker, professional auctioneer, and carries the AARE designation (Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate), one of the highest credentials awarded by the National Auctioneers Association. His brother Charlie Montgomery is also part of the operation, making this a family-run practice that has now spanned more than five decades. The business is located at 817 S. Church Street, Suite A, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and operates Monday through Friday during standard business hours.
This kind of longevity in a single market is rare. It signals consistent client outcomes, deep community roots, and the kind of institutional knowledge that only comes from handling hundreds of transactions across varying market conditions.
Why the Auction Model Changes What Real Estate Can Do
The core distinction that separates Comas Montgomery from a conventional real estate brokerage is the auction method. In a traditional sale, a property is listed at an asking price, and the seller waits for an offer to materialize. The timeline is unpredictable, negotiations can drag on, and days on market can quietly erode buyer confidence.
The auction model inverts this dynamic entirely. Instead of waiting for the market to come to you, the auction creates a defined event — a structured deadline that motivates qualified buyers to show up, compete, and act. This compressed timeline benefits sellers who need certainty over patience.
Carl Montgomery’s AARE credential matters here because real estate auctions are legally and procedurally distinct from both conventional property sales and personal property auctions. Combining a real estate broker license with a formal auction credential means the firm can handle the legal transfer of real property — titles, contracts, closing — while running the competitive bidding process that drives the final sale price.
Property Types and What the Firm Handles
Comas Montgomery works across a broad spectrum of property categories and asset types, which is part of what makes the firm useful to a wide range of clients.
- Residential and commercial real estate form the foundation of the business. This includes homes, investment properties, office buildings, and retail spaces. Both traditional listings and auction-style sales are available depending on the seller’s timeline and goals.
- Farm land and vacant land represent a significant portion of the firm’s work and are areas where the auction model particularly excels. Land buyers are often sophisticated investors or neighboring landowners who respond well to the competitive, transparent nature of a land auction. Comas Montgomery’s experience in this category spans rural tracts, agricultural acreage, and undeveloped parcels across the Middle Tennessee region.
- Equipment and personal property round out the firm’s offering. Estate sales, business liquidations, and farm equipment dispersals are handled through the same professional auction framework. This is where the practical value of a combined real estate and auction firm becomes most apparent — rather than splitting an estate between a real estate agent and a separate auction house, Comas Montgomery can manage the full asset disposition in a coordinated process.
Why Network Access Matters in Auction Real Estate
One of the underexplored advantages of working with Comas Montgomery is the firm’s membership in MarkNet Alliance, a national network of professional auction companies.
MarkNet Alliance connects independent auction firms across the country, giving each member access to a shared buyer database and cooperative marketing infrastructure. The combined gross auction sales across the Alliance have exceeded $1 billion — a figure that reflects the depth of the buyer pool available to sellers who work through a MarkNet member firm.
In practical terms, this means a farm property in Rutherford County isn’t limited to buyers who happen to see a local newspaper ad. It can be marketed to active land buyers, investors, and agricultural purchasers across the country who are registered with the Alliance network. For sellers of higher-value or specialized properties, this expanded reach can directly affect the final sale price by bringing in competitive bids from beyond the local market.
This kind of network access is typically out of reach for solo auctioneers or small firms operating without a formal alliance. It’s a structural advantage that Comas Montgomery has built into its offering through its membership since 1985.
Online and Live Auctions: Choosing the Right Format
The firm operates both online and live (in-person) auctions, and the right choice depends on the asset being sold and the target buyer pool.
1. Live Auctions
Live auctions create the energy and competitive pressure that can drive prices upward in real time. For personal property, estate contents, and certain types of land, bringing bidders together in one location builds momentum in a way that a digital interface doesn’t replicate. There’s a social psychology to a well-run live auction — bidders see each other, competition becomes visible, and buyers who might have stopped bidding online will stretch their limit when another hand goes up.
2. Online Auctions
Online auctions expand geographic reach and remove the logistical friction of attendance. For properties that attract out-of-town buyers — farm land, investment properties, or specialized equipment — an online format allows serious bidders to participate regardless of where they’re located. Many of the firm’s sales now use a hybrid approach, where online bidding is open for a defined period but in-person participation is also available on sale day.
The firm’s advertising strategy reflects this dual-channel approach. Rather than defaulting to a single marketing method, Comas Montgomery uses a combination of local media — print, signage, community outreach — alongside digital platforms, online auction portals, and the MarkNet Alliance buyer network. This layered approach is designed to generate maximum pre-sale visibility before the bidding event opens.
Who Works Best with Comas Montgomery
The auction method isn’t the right fit for every seller, and Comas Montgomery’s services align most naturally with specific situations.
Sellers who benefit most are those who prioritize certainty of sale and timeline control over holding out for a ceiling price on a conventional listing. Estate executors managing inherited property, farmers dispersing equipment after retirement, business owners liquidating commercial assets, and landowners who need to close within a defined window are all natural candidates for the auction approach.
The firm also suits buyers who prefer transparency in the purchasing process. At auction, every bidder sees the same competition in real time. There’s no back-channel negotiation, no wondering whether another offer is on the table — the process is public, the outcome is clear, and the winning bid is the market’s honest answer on that day.
For property types like farm land and vacant tracts — where comparable sales data can be sparse and conventional appraisals are imprecise — the competitive bidding process often delivers a more accurate market value than a listing price that may be set too conservatively or too aggressively.
How to Connect with the Firm
Comas Montgomery Realty and Auction Co. is headquartered at 817 S. Church Street, Suite A, Murfreesboro, TN 37130. The office operates Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. For direct inquiries, the firm can be reached at 615-895-0078. Additional information about current and upcoming auctions, as well as listed properties, is available through the firm’s website at ComasMontgomery.com.
Final Assessment
Comas Montgomery Real Estate is not a conventional brokerage wearing an auction firm’s label — it’s a firm built from the ground up around the auction method, with the credentials, network, and operational history to back it up. More than five decades in the Murfreesboro market, a leadership team with top-tier professional designations, and a national buyer network through MarkNet Alliance all point to a firm that has refined its model over time rather than simply adding auction services as a secondary offering.
If you’re evaluating how to sell property, land, or business assets in Middle Tennessee, the most useful question isn’t whether to use an agent or an auctioneer — it’s whether your situation calls for the speed, transparency, and competitive pressure that a professional auction firm can create. For many sellers in this region, Comas Montgomery has been the answer to that question for over fifty years.