Bill Dunn

Some have said the slump in the economy might be at the trough of the slowdown and we should expect a recovery to start at anytime. I was hoping for the same but after I received an email from a friend that listed many major retail stores that are scheduled to close their doors I'm not so sure we've even close. I verified a few of these store closings in case the email was fraudulent. I don't know about you but when I saw this list I immediately foresaw a series of further declines on Wall Street each day these stores close their doors for good.

Here is the list of stores closing some locations or closing completely:

• Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered
• Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
• Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
• Cache will close all stores
• Talbots closing down all stores
• J. Jill closing all stores
• GAP closing 85 stores
• Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
• Wickes Furniture closing down
• Levitz closing down remaining stores
• Bombay closing remaining stores
• Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.
• Whitehall closing all stores
• Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
• Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
• Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)
• Macys to close 9 stores after January
• Linens and Things closing all stores
• Movie Galley Closing all stores
• Pacific Sunware closing stores
• Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
• Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores
• JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
• Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
• Wilson Leather closing down all stores
• Sharper Image closing down all stores
• K B Toys closing 356 stores
• Lowes to close down some stores
• Dillard's to close some stores

A few these stores that are closing in Paducah occupy buildings that cost tens of thousands of dollars in rent each month. It's hard to imagine these stores could pay that much money in rent, employees, utilities, supplies, inventory, etc..

On the brighter side, compared to what we've been paying for gas I feel like the oil companies are practically give it away now. On top of the lower prices I used a discount from a local SuperValue today. They provide a discount on their gas when you receive certain products in the store. With the two discount receipts I had I saved 48 cents on gas with a 15 gallon limit. I filled up my Lincoln Navigator for just $1.02 per gallon!

I haven't seen this before in my area. It has come to the attention of several other people in my area as well.

There are these little yellow signs, similar to the one here, in my neighborhood. They are advertising an online auction for a home that was foreclosed on. This particular home is a 3BR, 1BA, 1,100 sqft home that was sold a couple of years ago for $54,000. The home appears to be in good condition.

The company holding the auction advertises it as an online only auction. Their name is Williams and Williams Real Estate Auctions (www.WilliamsAuction.com). You must go to their web site and register to receive more information, view the starting price, place any bids or find details as to how you can tour the home. Private buyers can register as well as realtors. Brokers must register if a sales associate wants to place bids for a client or themselves.

I was watching the auction of the home in my neighborhood. Anyone who's used eBay before knows you don't want to bid until the last few minutes. Any bids placed before that time just raises the price unecessarily. The auction started at $1,000 on November 14 at 12pm. Now, 2pm, November 18 the price is up to $11,500. One particular bidder has a maximum bid that has been overcoming other bids.

The week before the auction I tried 3 times to get access to the home by calling the 800 number. Each time I was told the auction company would call me back. For some reason they did not have a lockbox on the front door. The company reps I spoke with on the phone did not know why that was. I'm told interested parties have been entering the home through a window to tour the home.

When I was unable to get access to the home I stopped and looked in the windows. To my surprise was another agent's card taped to a front window. I called that agent and was surprised to hear what he said. Apparently, he had done the cleanup work on the home to prepare it for sale (it was a typical foreclosure). The bank that owns the home then let this auction company take over the sale leaving this agent out in the cold. He told me he plans to place a lien on the home to recover his expenses. I'm not sure a lien will be possible as the owner would have changed but whatever.

If you are a buyer interested in bidding on a home for auction on this web site call me at 270-994-3749.

Saturday (yesterday) I attended a couple of auctions. The first one was for a couple of tracts near Mike Smith's new location next to I-24 here in Paducah. The tracts totaled a little over 7 acres in two tracts. Included was a modular home that is being rented for $650 / month (I think). The land in that area is development property. This area is currently home to several hotels, Mike Smith Toyota, Heartland Homes and several other businesses. I understand that Mike Smith paid about $115,000 per acre of his new car lot. These two tracts sold for a mere $50,000 per acre at the auction I attended. The auctioneer didn't appear real happy about the selling price.

The second auction I attended was for a home at 1531 Jefferson St in Paducah. This victorian home was a 4BR, 2 BA home with nearly 2,400 sq ft of living space. The asking price of this home was $96,000 when it was listed with a local brokerage. The home appeared in good condition although one of the upstairs rooms I toured had a severely crooked floor. This home sold for $70,000

The auctioneer didn't appear to be very pleased with either of these auctions. I wonder what his sellers opinions are now that the auction is over. Auctions may lead to an immediate sale of property but the sale amount may be less than what's expected, a trade of sorts.

The auctioneer charged a 10% buyer premium.

On November 24 at 1:30pm the McCracken County Master Commission will hold another monthly auction. The following properties are to be included in this month's round. The auction is held inside the courthouse at the foot of the steps.

• 3141 Broadway (Paducah's old Coke plant), to recover costs of $1,260,802.77
• 201 & 217 Glenn St, to recover costs of $1,002,084.21
• 7260 McNeil-Alsip Road, to recover costs of $167,336.52
• 2902 Clark St, to recover costs of $71,427.83
• 8825 Old Mayfield Road in Boaz, to recover costs $66,720.17
• 2701 Madison St, to recover costs of $46,747.10
• 290 Alben Barkley Dr, to recover costs of $106,069.54
• 1912 Adams St, to recover costs of $46,332.13
• 832 South 5th St, to recover costs of $54,368.15
• 1822 Broad St, to recover costs of $92,523.28
• 3418 Buckner Lane, to recover costs of $124,954.07
• 412 Oaks Road, to recover costs of $23,954.43
• 4250 Contest Road, to recover costs of $9,545.00 and $55,057.48
• 2930 Alabama St, to recover costs of $67,149.62

Many of these auctions may be cancelled due to agreements being reached by the owners and mortgage holders. Payoff of the sale amount is typically expected within 30 days.

Generally, a preview of the property is not permitted as the master commissioner does not have access to the properties. If anyone would like information on any of these properties I might be able to provide a small amount of info. Email or call me with the address of the property.

With today being election day the kids didn't have to go to school - at least for school anyway. Our voting precinct is at the school.

I set the alarm clock to go off at 6:30am so I got to sleep in a few minutes. After getting ready my son and I headed off to cast my vote. My son is 10 and this is the 3rd time he's been with me.

While on the drive over there I told him to keep it quiet while we were in the booth as I didn't need everyone knowing how I was voting. To my surprise he didn't say a word while we were in there except to tell me I had to close the flap while I was making a write in. After we left I asked him how he knew to do that. He said he had heard the others asking the same question and he had heard the precinct workers answer.

Besides the normal races I voted for, I'm interested in seeing what happens to the city of Lone Oak. Will it be dissolved or not? See a previous blog of mine about that issue. Another race is for my representative of county school board. The school board is planning a high school consolidation and most everyone is opposed to it except the school board. Many residents plan to vote them out of office. Unfortunately, the school board plans to move quickly so that even a new school board will have to plan for a consolidation.