So this morning, I went to the foreclosure auction for the property where the Grassroots Pantera is located.
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/grassroots-pantera/18960/page1/
The legal notice stated that the property was available for inspection from ten until noon, with the auction starting promptly at noon. I had contacted the attorney in charge to ask if the vehicles there would be included in the auction or if they would be sold separately. He said that it was being sold as-is, and all the stuff went with the house. I had taken a quick look around the outside of the house, but wanted a closer, uh... more legal, look around. Plus, I wanted to see what might be hiding in the garage. I was also hoping that the property would be purchased by a bank, one that would have no interest in the vehicles abandoned there. I also wanted to snap some hi-res photos of the cars for David.
Things did not go exactly as planned. When I arrived, there were about a dozen people standing in the street. I asked if we were allowed to take a look around, but I was told by the attorney that the homeowner was on site and he was not allowing anyone to enter.
To make things more interesting, I should add that the home had been abandoned several years ago, but the owner had kept a bunch of dogs living there. When the authorities had discovered this, they found the home in deplorable condition, with a bunch of malnourished dogs inside and a few dead ones. They also found 17 firearms, covered in feces. The owner and his wife were arrested. The newspaper headline was "House of Death and Decay". I suspect that there were some serious mental health issues involved. This did not give me a warm fuzzy feeling about poking around there.
At the crack of noon, the auction began. The attorney read the legal notice and stated that the first bidder was the bank at $180,000. Immediately, one guy turned and started walking towards his truck. Another guy scratched his head for a minute and bid $181k. Once, twice, SOLD at 12:04 PM. I was shocked at how uneventful it all was.
The winning bidder was standing right next to me. I immediately handed him an envelope containing a pre-typed offer to purchase and remove all of the abandoned cars, motorcycles, parts and tools from the property (five cars and at least as many motorcycles).
He was clearly a contractor and not a bank rep, so I don't know what my chances are. It was fairly obvious that the bid was a little higher than anyone had expected. Hopefully, he will be interested in saving himself some work and recouping a little cash in the short term.
This could be fun and interesting, though I won't be terribly disappointed if things don't go my way.
W.
