About McCracken County, KY

The remains of hurricane Ike passed just west and north of western Kentucky this morning. At 7:10am the power at my home went off. After a couple of hours the power came back on for a few minutes and went out again. Four hours later the power came for good.

I had to respond to a power outage downtown and check on my wife's store. The roof of her store has a rubber roof on it. The rubber roof was being so inflated it almost looked like a balloon. I thought the high winds were getting between the rubber and the roof through a big hole somewhere so I got up there to check it out. I took a roll of duck tape with me. I did not find a big hole but did try to foolishly apply some duck tape in a few places. The duck tape wouldn't stick to the rubber.

The Paducah area literally looks like a tornado went through town. Signs are laying on the ground everywhere. Trash cans are laying on their sides a block away. Big and small trees are down everywhere. My neighbor tells me that a house down the street is a total loss after a large tree up rooted. His neighbor had a large limb fall through his bedroom. That limb went completely through the house and stopped when it in the ground under his bedroom floor.

This part of the midwest may get some tornadoes from time to time but we certainly aren't used to the persistent winds like we saw this morning. Anything that wasn't battened down got blown away and any trees that weren't in good shape got blown over.

Today I went to the McCracken County Master Commissioner's Sale. It was held at 1:30pm inside the courthouse at the steps going upstairs. This was my first time attending one of these so when I had always heard someone saying "courthouse steps" I always thought they meant outside. Turns out it's inside.

Up for auction today were 11 properties. Four properties were removed from the list as a sale or something had enabled their removal from the list. Properties ranged from around $23,000 to $229,000. There were probably 30 to 40 people there. I noticed a couple of other agents there. I assume with clients. There were at least a couple of attorneys there representing lenders.

I had many reasons for attending. I wanted to learn if it was really possible to get a great deal at one of these auctions. I wanted to experience one for myself as hearing it from someone else doesn't include all the details. Details are good. :-)

I don't totally understand all the possible circumstances a property would be auctioned off. I assume foreclosure but I wonder if bankruptcy could be related to some homes getting on this list.

Of all the properties auctioned off today, all properties except one were purchased by the lender that took action. These are the ones I assume were foreclosures. The one property not involving a lender was between two private individuals. The newspaper said it had something to do with a suit involving the division of property and to recover the costs of the sale. The commissioner stated the appraised value was $40,000. A bidder started the auction at $5,000. This property ended up selling for $19,600. Several bidders got involved. This property did not include a right of redemption.

One question I have is regarding the properties the lenders purchased. I assume these properties were foreclosures and that the proceeds of these properties go to the lender minus any legal fees. The lenders then sell the properties to recover their costs? These properties will likely be available or being sold by another agent in the near future?

Below are the topics which we'll be discussing each month during our Western Kentucky REIA meetings at Murray State.

WesternKentucky Real Estate Investment Association

PO Box 108 Murray, Kentucky 42071 Telephone Toll Free: 866.410.1475 Email: WKREIA@yahoo.com

Meetings Held 3^RD Thursday of Each Month, Murray State University,

Curris Center, Barkley Lecture Room, 3rd Floor

WKREIA - Chapter of National Real Estate Investment Association

Professional Home Providers

Jan – 08

Getting Started in R.E. Investment

Feb – 08

R.E. Investment Marketing

Mar – 08

Finding Motivated Sellers

Apr – 08

Building an Investment Team

May – 08

Analyzing the Deal

Jun – 08

Investment Strategies

Jul – 08

Wholesaling

Aug – 08

Flipping Strategies

Sep – 08

Building a Buyers Database

Oct – 08

Landlord/Rental Strategies

Nov – 08

Lease/Options

Dec – 08

Ethics in R.E.