Auctioneer
In his 28-year-long career as an auctioneer, Bob Ewald has handled roughly $120 million in property. BY CHERI HENDERSON
Bob on the job. Ewald started his career working at a bankruptcy law firm, where he got drafted to run auctions. In 1992, he launched Ewald Auctions, where his wife, real estate broker Tammy, works and their four grown children “have worked in various capacities.” Because he insists they call him Bob on the job, “now all my kids call me Bob. Our grandkids call me Bob.”
Getting his rhythm. Ewald prides himself on the clarity of his chant, the unique singsong cadence an auctioneer develops. While studying for his auctioneering license, he learned such typical industry phrases as uddaga for ought to go. “It’s five, uddaga 10, uddaga 30,” he demonstrates.
Taking the bait. A client put Ewald to the test once after he bragged he could sell anything. “He said, ‘I have 40,000 pounds of frozen baitfish,’ ” and Ewald had just a few days to get bidders to bite. A slew of phone calls helped him identify his market: charter fishing boat companies. “We got 15 bids in. [My client] was hoping for $1,200 or $1,500, and I think ended up getting about $7,900 or $8,500.”
Find the money. Ewald often handles bankruptcy cases involving real estate and other property. He remembers a “hoarder house” in Rosemont that he was auctioning o! with all its contents. “There was stu! packed probably chest deep everywhere. I had a crew in there for more than two weeks— five people just sorting through what we found.”
Rain crowds. Bad weather draws lots of potential buyers at auctions, such as the 650 bidders who showed up for a surplus auction during a thunderstorm. “Everybody thinks no one is going to go. They think, ‘I’m going to get a deal today.’ ”
The real deal. “People say all the time, ‘Do you think you get good prices?’ I tell them, ‘If you have an appraisal, about a third of the time I’ll be below it, about a third of the time I’ll be right about it, and a third of the time I’ll be above it.’ My opinion is, you have to go to a lot of auctions to get a deal because if I’m good at my job, there aren’t going to be a lot of deals.”
Banking on the police. “I hire a cop at every auction. In 28 years, I’ve never had a problem because I always hire a police o"cer—if for nothing else, presence.” Police remove people who are disruptive or who fail to honor a bid. They also act as security with the large amounts of cash that can be exchanged. At one auction 20 years ago, “we had $290,000 in cash. We had seven o"cers. They drove us to the bank where we made a drop.”
And the winner of the bidding war is… Ewald, who gets paid on commission, and his clients. “The lowest number of bidders I’ve ever had was three. It was a piece of property we thought was going to bring $325,000 to $350,000, and we ended up getting $490,000 for it because two guys [who didn’t like each other] got into a bidding war. They didn’t want the other guy to have it.”
REAL ESTATE BANKRUPTCY AUCTION
June 27, 2016. Some of the most notable and visible parcels of real estate in the greater Orlando area are currently being sold in US Bankruptcy Court in the Orlando Gateway Partners and Nilhan Hospitality cases. There is an offer on the table that has been noticed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the six (6) parcels of real estate totaling 63.71 acres immediately North of the Orlando International Airport at the northwest corner of the Beeline Expressway (SR528) and Semoran Blvd (SR436). During the Notice period, that ends on August 4th @ 5:00p.m., any other interested parties may submit bids based on the Guidelines and Procedures that have been prepared and approved by Emerson Noble, the Trustee in the case and his attorneys at Akerman, LLP.
In the event that any overbids or combination of bids that total more than the current offer of $18,000,000 come in to the Trustee, there will be an auction of the parcels involving those that have completed their due diligence, executed a contract and addendum and placed the required deposit in escrow.
The auction, if needed, will take place on August 8, 2016 at the offices of Akerman, LLP. Only those that have completed all the requirements will be allowed to participate in the auction process. Once completed, an ultimate high bidder will be presented to the US Bankruptcy Court for approval and closing.
The six (6) parcels include (Parcel A) a 10.75 acre vacant multi-family parcel; (Parcel B) a 20 acre vacant multi-family parcel; (Parcel C) an 8.47 acre vacant commercial parcel; (Parcel D) a 7.27 acre commercial center consisting of two (2) 15,657 square foot buildings currently housing Bonefish Grill, IHOP, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Ari Sushi, ReMax, and The Shilla Nail Spa; (Parcel E) a 17.07 acres site, partially occupied by the SixT Rental car site; and (Parcel F) a 0.16 acre billboard site facing Semoran Blvd greeting visitors as they come out of the airport.
Robert Ewald, Broker and President of Ewald Auctions has been retained by Emerson Noble, the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee, and his attorneys, Jules Cohen and Esther McKean at Akerman, LLP in Orlando to coordinate efforts regarding obtaining the information on the properties, the marketing campaign and the potential overbid auction of these unique Orlando properties.
Terms of the Auction are as follows:
All properties sell on an “AS IS” basis, with no warranties of any kind, express, implied or otherwise; a 10% deposit is to be wired into Escrow with First American Title in order for any bid to be valid the day of the auction; the balance of the purchase price will due 30 days from the Entry of the Order Approving the Sale by the US Bankruptcy Court; there will be NO contingencies to closing following the
due diligence; all sales are subject to the US Bankruptcy Court approval; possession is with Trustee’s Deed; inspection of the properties is by appointment.
To get any information, potential bidders should contact Mr. Ewald for a Confidentiality Agreement and access to the on-line portal. Any additional questions regarding the auction procedures should be directed to Mr. Ewald. His contact information is as follows:
Robert H. Ewald
Ewald Auctions, Inc.
12472 Lake Underhill Road, Suite 312
Orlando, Florida 32828
(407) 275-6853 office
(407) 466-6837 cell
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ewaldauctions.com
Bankruptcy order paves way for online auction of 200-plus acres in Apopka
By AMANDA RABINES | [email protected] | GrowthSpotter
PUBLISHED: January 24, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. | UPDATED: January 25, 2022 at 3:13 p.m.
Rochelle Holdings XIII LLC is selling 202 acres in Apopka in a stalking horse auction after filing for a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court ordered public auction is being handled by Robert Ewald, broker and president of Ewald Auctions, according to a news release.
Rochelle Holdings XIII LLC is led by Matthew R. Hill who is based out of Longwood.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court records show the two secured creditors are the Risser Family Trust and Nicholson Investments.
Ewald Auctions is accepting stalking horse bid offers until Feb. 11 and will choose only one to be the stalking horse bidder so long as it is higher than the credited amount of $32.5 million.
An online auction is set for March 22 at 11 a.m. with a required $1 million escrow deposit. Interested parties have until March 18 at 5 p.m. to submit documents and a deposit in order to be considered qualified.
The 200-plus-acre property up for auction has a central address at 4105 Golden Gem Road.
The Rochelle Holdings property is located just west of S.R. 429 at the intersection of West Kelly Park Road and Golden Gem Road. It’s located in Apopka’s fast-growing Kelly Park Interchange District, where a number of developers are activating large residential and mixed-use projects.
According to the release, the Rochelle Holdings property features that same kind of potential, because it features a Kelly Park Mixed-Use Future Land Use and resides in Apopka’s Kelly Park Interchange District zoning overlay.
Marketing materials show a development scenario with 96 acres dedicated to industrial uses, 46 acres dedicated to multifamily development and 57 acres dedicated to commercial development.
The property is being sold clear of mortgages and liens. A 3% buyer’s premium will be charged on real property, according to the release. All sales are subject to the approval of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of the article mistakenly referred to the U.S. Bankruptcy order as a judgment. It was also updated to clarify only one offer will be chosen to be the stalking horse bidder.