By Mark Mueller, The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.
Feb. 13--Don Begraft tried everything.
Word of mouth. Commercial real estate agents. Glossy brochures.
Off and on for 10 years, Begraft's Hidden Valley Resort in Vernon sat on the block, with only a few tentative nibbles
to show for it.
What a difference a technological revolution makes.
Begraft last week took his sale to cyberspace, listing Hidden Valley with Internet auction site eBay. By last night,
he had received 10 bids from three different parties.
What's more, the highest bid has already matched his asking price of $3.9 million, with five days left to run on
the auction.
"It's amazing, really," said Begraft, 63, who's looking to retire after a 25-year association with Hidden
Valley. "I could spend millions of dollars in advertising, and you only solicit a certain amount of people.
This goes all over the world, and all you need is one person to say, 'I want this for my grandson or for my own
little toy.' It's the wave of the future."
If the sale goes through, it will mark one of the pricier transactions on the popular auction site since it opened
its virtual doors in 1995, eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said yesterday.
"We stopped keeping track of high-priced items as the system got bigger and bigger, but if this does sell,
it's certainly going to be in the high end," Pursglove said.
Only a few offerings on the site yesterday were listed for more than Hidden Valley. Among them: 30 acres of land
in Uruguay carried a $4.2 million price tag, while an Internet computer and electronics outfit listed for $9.9
million.
Begraft, a solid bricks-and-mortar type, turned to the Internet at the suggestion of a friend. Soon Begraft's grandson,
a computer-savvy student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, wholly endorsed the idea.
Begraft said he's glad he followed through.
"The bids keep coming in," he said, "and the last day (of an auction) is supposed to be the busiest."
Begraft's hopes weren't always so high.
Hidden Valley, New Jersey's second-largest ski area after neighboring Mountain Creek, first went up for sale about
a decade ago, he said. A buyer agreed to take on the 140-acre property for $10 million, but a state plan to store
barrels of radon-contaminated dirt in Vernon soured the deal.
The radon, a suspected carcinogen, never did arrive in Vernon. Neither did the buyer.
A weak economy in succeeding years kept other prospects at bay, forcing Hidden Valley into bankruptcy, from which
it has since emerged.
Begraft bought his partners out in 1993, running the resort with his wife since then. It has been, he said, a labor
love.
But after a heart attack a year and a half ago, Begraft said he's ready to hang up his snowshoes.
"This is sad," he aid. "It's going to be hard. "But at some point in life, you have to step
down, and it's a wise person who knows when to let someone else take over."
Begraft said he hopes the buyer continues to operate the property as a resort. Hidden Valley already offers tennis,
boating and other warm- weather activities, and Begraft said approvals are in place for building additions and
for condominiums atop the slopes.
"It would be nice if the buyer is someone who has a desire to make it better," he said.
The three bidders could not be reached yesterday.
While Begraft said he recognizes that the wilds of cyberspace contain some people who might not follow through
on bids, he expressed confidence a deal could be struck with at least one of the three interested in Hidden Valley.
And, he said, he's crossing his fingers for even more interest before the auction ends Friday morning.
"We're hoping more bids come in," he said. "Who knows where it's going to stop?"
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