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      <h3>Ritchie Bros. to sell 9 residential home sites in Grand Rapids, Michigan at unreserved public auction</h3>
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      <i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;By: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (America) Inc.<br>
      Posted: 2008-03-08 05:39:56</i>
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      Nine residential home sites, six of which are lakeside on private lakes, located minutes away from Traverse City will be sold at an unreserved public real estate auction in Grand Rapids on March 20, 2008. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA) will conduct the auction on Thursday, March 20, 2008 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. Each home site will be sold to the highest bidder on sale day, since all Ritchie Bros. auctions are unreserved, with no minimum bids and no reserve prices.  <br><br>"This truly will be a unique auction for Michigan; a new way to sell real estate in the state," said Kieran Holm, Ritchie Bros. Regional Manager. "There have been quite a few unreserved real estate auctions conducted around the country, but this will be one of the first - if not the first - ever to take part here. I would encourage any interested buyers to register to bid in our upcoming Grand Rapids auction - because these sites will be sold to the highest bidders on March 20, regardless of price."  <br><br>Marty Stroiman, managing partner of Blue Heron Resort, LLC., explained why he decided to sell his properties in an unreserved auction: "The Michigan real estate market is very depressed and layoffs in the auto industry are rampant; what the local economy needs is some kind of physical stimulus and an unreserved real estate auction may provide just that."  <br><br>Six homes have already been built in the resort area and 32 lots have been sold to buyers from downstate through conventional methods at the Blue Heron Resort.  <br><br>The home sites, which vary in size (between 1 and 2.5 acres), form part of the Blue Heron Resort located five miles south of Kalkaska on M-66 and 23 miles west of Grayling. As part of the resort, the home sites are surrounded by 200 acres of forest area and three private, spring-fed lakes - six of the nine sites are waterfront. Blue Heron Resort offers a wide variety of summer and winter leisure activities. Snowmobiling, golfing, hiking, and fishing are amongst the array of activities that Traverse City, Kalkaska and their surrounding areas offer. With snowmobile trails and fishing lakes bordering the home sites, the Blue Heron properties provide the perfect opportunity to create a vacation home.  <br><br>"The dream of retiring in Northern Michigan is universal," added Stroiman. "This auction at Blue Heron Resort will be one of the last opportunities for people to purchase with 100% financing, affordable waterfront and water access lots to custom build their retirement or vacation paradise for their family."  <br><br>The Blue Heron home sites being sold by unreserved auction are part of a larger unreserved industrial equipment auction in Columbus, OH. The unreserved auction of the nine home sites begins at approximately 11 a.m. and will be transmitted live, via simulcast at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel - 187 Monroe Ave, Grand Rapids. Like every Ritchie Bros. auction, the sale will be completely unreserved - meaning there are no minimum bids or reserve prices. Every home will be sold to the highest bidder on auction day, regardless of price. The auction is open to the public. Interested bidders must register before bidding; registration is free. More information about the auction, including details on all nine home sites and related documents, is available at: http://www.rbauction.com/blue_heron_resort.  <br><br>About Ritchie Bros.  <br><br>Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. is the world's largest auctioneer of industrial equipment, operating through over 110 locations in more than 25 countries around the world. The Company sells, through unreserved public auctions, a broad range of used and unused industrial assets, including equipment, trucks and other assets utilized in the construction, transportation, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum, marine, real estate, and agricultural industries. The Company maintains a web site at http://www.rbauction.com.  <br><br>CONTACT: Kieran Holm, Regional Manager - Real Estate Auction Division, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Tel: (817) 372-7219; Or Kim Schulz, Corporate Communications Manager, Ritchie Bros.
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