DeCaro Auctions, a boutique luxury real estate auction house with more than 40 years in the business, announced on November 13, 2026, 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 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. “I’ve spent my career in investment banking, private equity and luxury real estate, serving institutional investors, family offices, ultra-high-net-worth families, and trusts and estates. 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.”
The move matters because auction companies have traditionally marketed to sellers and real estate agents, but many high-value sales are set in motion by fiduciaries—the trustee settling an estate, the attorney handling a divorce, or the family office managing a principal’s real estate. Those professionals typically list a property with an agent and wait. DeCaro’s new divisions speak directly to these decision-makers, formalizing work the firm has done for decades.
“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,” said Mario Vargas, partner and CEO of DeCaro Auctions. “We’ve all done this work for those clients. No one has spoken to the professionals directly.”
The Trusts & Estates division focuses on situations where a property must sell on a timeline, including heirs who disagree about whether to keep or sell an inherited home, a divorce decree requiring a shared home to be sold, an inherited property the heirs will not use but must keep paying taxes and maintenance on, and an owner who needs to free up capital held in real estate. 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. The division 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. The firm’s 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 is available on DeCaro’s specialties page.
The launch could impact the luxury real estate industry by giving fiduciaries and talent representatives a structured, private alternative to traditional listings, potentially speeding up estate settlements and relocations while preserving confidentiality. For readers, it signals a growing recognition that time-sensitive sales can be handled through auctions without public exposure. DeCaro Auctions, founded by Daniel DeCaro in 1983, continues to run date-certain auctions for whole homes and co-ownership, partnering with listing agents on every sale. Those interested can visit DeCaro Auctions for more details.
