The Villa Bay Motel

Every so often we get these unique gems that we get to work with in real estate. A good bunch of my auction properties are diamonds in the rough. Properties with potential. Properties with stories. Properties with history. Properties pregnant with opportunity.

The Villa Bay Motel is one of those properties. It's located in the heart of the Texas Coastal Bend, in Aransas Pass, Texas. Aransas Pass is located right in between Rockport, Port Aransas, Portland, & Ingleside.

The Coastal Bend is known for many things: fishing, refineries, vacationing, the beach...& SO...for properties like the Villa Bay Motel, it attracts a variety of customers. You may see contract workers, working on one of the projects in the gulf, a refinery worker, or any other industrial type worker that is looking for a place that offers weekly rates. You may also find fishermen and women, needing a place to lay their head before heading out the next morning. You may also meet some locals that have visitors coming in, that need a place to stay, tourists visiting the beach or attending one of the many festivals in the coastal bend, or someone just needing a shower from spending all day at the beach.

It is amazing how the Coastal Bend has bounced back from Hurricane Harvey. You can see the opportunity and potential as you make the drive.

One thing about The Villa Bay Motel, is it stood strong when many things around it did not. Hurricane Harvey was not it's first rodeo. In fact, it was even able to house some that were distraught and homeless from the aftermath.

There is something special about a property that has survived and thrived in hard times. If those walls could talk... they would have quite the story to tell.

This property is up for auction. The auction closes Thursday, June 18th at 6 PM. Here is the link to the auction.  Here is a link to the Terms & Conditions. 

Here is a link on how to log in: CLICK HERE!

Here is a link with all of the details. LINK TO DETAILS Be sure to click the "Documents" tab under the picture of the hotel. You will find everything from a survey to the property condition statement to the number of rooms & MORE.

Link to Loopnet Listing HERE!

Buck Up & Bid! BId! BID! This property has the potential to become your retirement investment, the boutique hotel you've always wanted, your opportunity at coastal living with income potential, OR anything else you want it to be.

We will be at the property tomorrow, if you would like to preview it, talk with us, or get additional information. You can also call or text me at: 979.421.0325 or email me at heather@buckupauctions.com.

Heather Schoenst Kaspar
Auctioneer TXL 17037, BAS, CAI
Realtor, GRI, SRES
Buck Up Auctions & Realty
My Real Estate Expert, LLC.
heather@buckupauctions.com
Call/Text 979.421.0325

Political Roast & Early Act First Knight

I have a fundraising auction coming up this coming Monday in Aransas Pass. I was contacted by a sweet little lady that is part of the Rotary Club there. The Spanish & Science Club Network is allowing them to hold an auction during their Local Political Roast Event, which will be held at the Aransas Pass Civic Center from 6pm-9pm. They are working to raise money for a program called EARLY ACT FIRST KNIGHTS, which is a character building curriculum for public schools.

The most updated information I have is as follows:

Politicians being roasted are:

Jack Chaney, Aransas County Commissioner & Joe McComb, Nueces County Commissioner

The BAKED items that will be auctioned off will be baked by several LOCAL celebrities including:

Ex-Mayor

Currenty City Council Member

Citizen of the Year

Retired District Judge

Engineer From Ony

Care Regional Medial Center PR Specialist

City Manager

Local CPA/Business Owner/2011Citizen of the Year

Chamber of Commerce CEO

Early Act First Knight Supporter

& HOPEFULLY 1 very special MysTerY celebrity!!

When I lived on the coast I was a mentor at one of the local schools (Middle School & High School). I had several friends that were also part of the mentoring program & when we would run into tough scenarios we'd talk with each other about how to BREAK through to our mentee OR try to figure out WHAT they were needing from us. 

Let me tell you... It was tough sometimes. Here are a couple scenarios: A 5th grader is constantly in ISS & when you go and visit they are blank. They don't really want to talk to you. They keep their head down. There is a TOTAL lack of motivation. As the school year goes on...you find out that their parents give this child weed....mainly so they don't bother them. As a mentor you go through the proper channels, but KNOW that this child will already have a battle to overcome, that they should have never even been subject to. 

Here's another: A child with a mother totally out of the picture. Her father has limited presence, but in another state, with his other family - that the mentee only gets to go visit. She has a hard-working aunt that works to support the entire family, so isn't home much. Her uncle doesn't have hardly any interest in her & this middle-schooler doesn't understand it. She has a hard time making friends & seeing her worth.

Last one: A Freshman in high school, that WANTS to DO GOOD. They have an older sister that dropped out of high school at 16 because she was pregnant. The mother has a new boyfriend (that the student doesn't get along with). The student is struggling with their grades. They report drug activity that they saw after school, but their identity somehow gets exposed, so they are now being threatened. Another student threatens the pregnant sister after school & threats of physical violence are voiced. 

I bring these scenarios up because they are REAL. FIRST ACT KNIGHTS is a character-building curriculum that teaches students about HONOR, INTEGRITY, HONESTY, KINDNESS, COURAGE, & SO MUCH MORE! ALL kids naturally want to DO GOOD and make people PROUD of them. Early Act First Knight can be their outlet!

EarlyAct FirstKnight® (or EAFK) is a groundbreaking character education program for elementary and middle schools from Knights of The Guild. Sponsored by Rotary Clubs, EAFK motivates and teaches children of all backgrounds to become civil, service-oriented people during their most formative years.

Here are more links to learn more about Early Act First Knight:

http://www.eastcoasteafk.org/index.php/features

http://www.eafk.org/EAFK/EarlyAct_FirstKnight.html

http://www.anderson1.k12.sc.us/domain/878

https://redbluff.pasadenaisd.org/news/early_act_first_knight

I hope all of my friends down South can make it out to this event! Who doesn't like a good roast? I'm not positive where you can get the tickets, but I'm sure the Aransas Pass Civic Center OR the Spanish & Science Club Network (look at the bottom of the web page) can point you in the right direction!! BUCK UP BABY & THROW THOSE HANDS UP! This is SUCH a needed program for our schools & together we can raise enough $$$$ to keep it going & MAYBE get it into MORE schools!! GOD BLESS!

I SPOT You!

Hey everyone!! Thanks for reading!

Well...this past Saturday I had the opportunity to help out at a new business in ARANSAS PASS called THE AUCTION HOUSE! Before Saturday...I had NEVER been at an auction like this. The Auction House takes CONSIGNMENT PIECES and auctions it off for people.

The back of our shirts :)

There were ALL KINDS of things there: Refrigerators, dishwashers, trailer hitches, saws, couches, dishes, art, home decor, cowboy hats, dressers, dining room sets, tools, boats, Wizard of OZ collectibles, children´s toys, coin collections, estate jewelry....I could go on for DAYS! They really had a little bit of everything. I´ll be honest...the buyers/bidders got some PRETTY SWEET DEALS! Anyone that is in the area...needs to check this place out!

Good shot of some of the items that were auctioned off.

Like you all know (at least my followers)....I DO NOT have my license yet.What that means is that I can´t help AUCTIONEER yet. I wanted to get some EXPERIENCE though in some different types of auctions. All I´ve really seen are CATTLE AUCTIONS, FUNDRAISING AUCTIONS, and very few CAR AUCTIONS. I really want to learn what works for consignment auctions and auction houses. So....I emailed the two contacts on their website a few weeks ago and I get a phone call and email back. They wanted to meet me!!

They asked me to show up to their next auction (which was this past Saturday). My main job was WORKING THE FLOOR - SPOTTING THE BIDDERS, TRYING TO LIVEN´ UP THE CROWD A LITTLE, MARK THE BOUGHT ITEMS WITH THE BIDDER NUMBER, SHOW THE NEXT ITEM UP FOR AUCTION, ETC. It was kind of a slow start, but then people started THROWIN´ THEIR HANDS UP :).

I got a chance to talk to some of the bidders after the auction and EVERYONE I talked to was really nice. Two ladies that were sitting outside (that bought A LOT of items) stopped me and told me I did an AWESOME job SPOTTING the bidders and asked if I´d be back for the next one - which I will :). They said everything ran smoothly and they´ll be back for the next one. I´m really not trying to TOOT MY OWN HORN (toot...toot :)). I just REALLY like it when I get positive feedback. Remember....this whole idea was A SHOT IN THE DARK...seriously. I LOVE IT!!

The auctioneer is in the big podium and there are all kinds of collectibles on those shelves (Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, etc).

The other cool thing about this entire JOURNEY I´m taking is that I am getting to meet A LOT OF REALLY COOL PEOPLE that I may not have, if it wasn´t for this. WHEW! I feel BLESSED!

So...what did I learn? Well...I´ll say that - IT´S A LOT DIFFERENT THAN A FUNDRAISING AUCTION. Getting bids can be like PULLING TEETH on some items. You´ve really gotta do your ABSOLUTE BEST to sell that item. Talk it up! Get the audience engaged. Explain to them WHY they need it OR the SWEET DEAL they´re getting. At benefit auctions people plan on spending some $$. At The Auction House...they are trying to spend as little as possible. The Coca-Cola products and money and coins seemed to be pretty popular, BUT...it all depends on the crowd. Next time...there may be a couple of people looking for nice tools and they could be the most popular items.

There were copy machines, washing machines, dishwashers...all kinds of stuff back there.

It´s a whole ´nother realm of the AUCTION INDUSTRY and I LOVE it too!! (I realize that what I just typed is so grammatically incorrect - but I typed it anyway.)

Let´s just say that I really enjoyed myself and I´m INTRIGUED :). A BIG THANK YOU goes out to everyone over at The Auction House in Aransas Pass - John King (the auctioneer) and his wife Jeanne and their two girls, Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Tim and Miranda Wooten, and all the other staff there. They have WELCOMED me with OPEN ARMS. I´ll do all I can to HELP them anyway I know how.

All you LOCALS reading this...go check them out in Aransas Pass and bring an item or two and see if they can make ya´ll a little money. WHO KNOWS? You might walk away with a SWEET DEAL too!

AUCTION SCHOOL is right around the corner and it´s fixin´ to be time for me to BUCK UP BABY!! I can´t wait!! The next auction I´m helping with is at THE AUCTION HOUSE - in Aransas Pass again, then the Ledbetter Fireman´s Feast, and then AUCTION SCHOOL and my licensing exam :/. Time is FLYING!