Still no buyer for Vick’s house

A second attempt to sell Michael Vick's former house and dogfighting compound in Surry County at auction failed yesterday.

None of the prospective buyers produced the necessary 10 percent deposit, the auctioneer said.

Tim Dudley of Motley's Auction and Realty Group in Richmond said seven groups of would-be buyers showed up to bid on the five-bedroom house on 15 acres at 1915 Moonlight Road, for which the current owner wanted at least $590,000. But because none of the bidders brought a sufficient deposit, the auction did not proceed, Dudley said.

Dudley said he and the owner would work with the prospective buyers to try to complete the sale. If that does not happen, another auction attempt is possible next year, he said.

Vick built the house in 2003 and subsequently made it available to friends and relatives who ran his "Bad Newz Kennels" dogfighting operation on the wooded property behind it. After Vick was arrested in 2007, he sold the house, assessed at $747,000, to local real estate developer Wilbur Ray Todd Jr. for $450,000.

Todd first tried to sell the house at auction last December through a different company but failed to receive a bid higher than the assessed value and decided to hang on to the house. The housing market then collapsed, and Todd lowered his minimum price before the second planned auction.

Dudley said yesterday he was not discouraged. "There's a buyer for every house."

Vick, 28, is serving a 23-month federal prison term for dogfighting. He is scheduled for release in July. Last month, he pleaded guilty to a state charge of dogfighting in Surry and received no additional jail time. His lawyers say he hopes to return to action in the National Football League, where he once was a Pro Bowl quarterback.