The auctioneers who have been working to put together the upcoming Andy Rogers estate auction next month said this morning that their phones have been ringing ‘loudly and often’ since the announcement.
“We’ve had a great amount of interest from current shop owners, new investors that would like to invest here locally, a lot of which are local folks as well. We’ve had a good deal of interest,” said Jimmie Dean Coffey, who is conducting the auction with Tim Ellis.
The two held a press conference this morning at the Brown County History Center, where the property auction will take place on Oct. 30.
Coffey and Ellis have been hired by Rogers’ trust to sell 16 properties including at least eight vacant parcels and eight buildings in Nashville with 25 downtown shops calling them home.
“Some of these parcels have several shops, stores, businesses, but those are being sold intact. We’re not dividing any of the parcels,” Ellis said.
“Since we started promoting our auction we’ve had lots of contact with the folks that rent these properties. Lots of tenants. Many of the tenants have been here for years and years renting.”
The two reiterated that any tenant with a lease will have their lease transferred to their new owner.
“Those leases don’t get cancelled in this process,” Ellis said.
But Rogers also had tenants who currently do not have leases with some renting month to month.
“Mr. Rogers apparently operated a lot on handshakes, very informally,” Ellis said.
For those tenants, the law requires they receive at least a 30 day notice that they have to move following the closing on the properties, which is expected to happen sometime in November, Ellis added.
He estimated that about two-thirds of the tenants do have leases.
All of the buildings will be sold as is.
“People say ‘Well, what would the new owners do with these properties?’ We have no idea, of course,” Ellis said, noting that once the transfer is complete the new owners will be allowed to do what they wish with their property.
The auction also will include Rogers’ home and the 56.53 acres it sits on at 1527 Jackson Branch Ridge Road, as well as 59.7 wooded acres between Jackson Branch Ridge Road and State Road 135 North offered separately.
An 855-square-foot log cabin at 108 Town Hill Road, on about a half-acre, also will be auctioned. According to the listing on the auction company’s website, it is being used as a rental and has no septic system or sewer connection, just a holding tank.
Seven lots with no buildings on them in town or just right outside of Nashville also are on the list.
Since the announcement, Ellis said that the auctioneers have received questions about why Rogers’ estate decided to auction off the properties.
“The estate is anxious to settle the estate and close the estate,” he said.
Rogers passed away last July.
“If you do a conventional type sale it can drag on and on and on,” Ellis continued.
He said it’s difficult to estimate how many people are expected to show up for the auction, but that their offices have had more than 100 people express interest so far.
“We’ve been very busy with inquiries and calls,” Ellis said.
On Monday, the auctioneers will have another preview day for potential buyers to check out the properties up for auction beginning at 1 p.m. A team will be at the parking lot at the corner of Commercial and Main streets to help direct people to the properties for sale, Coffey said.
Private appointments also can be made.
“We want to, and are excited to, give the public the opportunity to come and buy and come and bid on these properties in Nashville,” he said.
“It’s been a long time to maybe, some say, never that properties like these have been offered for sale. Not often does downtown properties in Nashville become available, so here is an opportunity for many to take advantage of that.”
The properties in the sale are listed, with tax information, rental income, pictures and other data, on the auction company’s website, ucpropertyauction.com.
On the day of auction, bidders will need to bring a photo ID, a $5,000 check made out to themselves, and a written opening bid in order to register. High bidders will see a 10-percent “buyer’s premium” added to their final bid as a way to defray auction costs, Ellis said. That buyer’s premium will be nonrefundable and due at the close of the auction, with the balance of the purchase price due upon closing of the sale at the end of November.
Read our coverage of the auction so far:
Historic opportunity: Andy Rogers’ properties to be auctioned next month
