Last year, Gunnell spent close to $500,000 at the land sale. And although he doesn't expect to buy that much delinquent property in 2009, he's going to try.
"I ain't interested in anything, but interested in everything," he said.
His aggressive bidding broke a few hearts and ruffled a few more feathers during the first day of the 2009 land sale Monday, but big bidders like Gunnell are how Lincoln County collects money owed on delinquent properties.
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By buying delinquent properties, bidders settle the owner's debt with the county - adding to the county's general fund - and collect 1.5 percent interest per month on the taxes owed on the parcel. If the property is not redeemed within two years, which would result in the debt and interest being repaid to the bidder and the property returned to the original owner, the deed goes to the bidder.
Lincoln County Tax Assessor/Collector Nancy Jordan said this year's sale features 1,277 parcels unpaid from 2008.
The total amount of taxes owed on the parcels is $630,753.84. Jordan said the county would recover at least that amount and more by the time the land sale ends on Tuesday.
A lot of the money the county recovers will come out of Gunnell's pocket. Those bidding against him Monday were audibly and visibly frustrated as he continually raised the bids and bought at will.
One man bid $2,000 on a family-owned property selling for slightly less than $1,200, just to make sure Gunnell didn't outbid him. Another woman who could not match Gunnell's bid shouted out that she couldn't buy anything because of No. 1, his bidding number.
"You've gotta bid!" he shouted back. "Let's get this thing over with."
Every now and then, however, someone would win the battle with Gunnell.
"Let 'em have it," he would say, waving his hand as he lost interest in the property.
One of those scarce winners was Liberty's Anna Whittington, who was the bidding representative for Oak Investments, an investment company run by a fellow church member. Whittington had a stapled list of all properties at the Lincoln County sale, along with instructions on which properties to bid on and how much to bid.
Still, Whittington only outbid Gunnell a few times.
"He always keeps going," she said. "He wants whatever. He doesn't have the same criteria we do, and it gets frustrating because he bids on everything."
Gunnell's bid war with Whittington, who was bidder No. 282, backfired at least once when Whittington accidentally called out $55, trying to raise the bid by $5 over what she thought was a $50 parcel. She had not heard correctly, and the actual price was $15.
But Gunnell, apparently focused on the bidding war, immediately shouted, "$60!" and was awarded with an overpriced parcel.
"I'm not trying to drive the price up on him, but it's satisfying when I do," Whittington said.
Other bidders had their own reasons for being interested in specific properties up for auction at the land sale.
McCall Creek's Tara Sullivan sat through the daylong auction for a chance at one $400 parcel, which she hoped to recover for a daughter.
Loyd Star's JoAnn King waited out the day for a chance at a parcel adjoining her land, which she hoped to purchase, hold for two years and receive the deed.
"I just want to add it to the property I already own," she said. "Hopefully, one day we'll have cows, or I'll plant trees on it."
Whatever the reason for bidding, the bidders were there Monday in record numbers.
Jordan said the 2009 land sale is the biggest she has ever overseen in her 24 years of service, in terms of both parcels available and bidders present. It's likely the economy driving up the number of unpaid parcels, and likely the stellar interest rates driving in the bidders, she said.
For Brookhaven's Larry Foster, it's the interest rates.
"You get better interest here than you do at the bank," he said. "If you hold it for 12 months, that's 18 percent."
