Bill Sturgis - President of Great Southwest and Group Southwest Auctions Realty

Bill Sturgis is President of both Great Southwest and Group Southwest Auctions Realty. He has held real estate auctions in some 28 states where he is a real estate broker. Clients include Mobil Oil Company, Oxidental Petroleum, Montgomery Wards Corp., Circuit City, First City Bank Corp., Resolution Trust Corporation and FDIC. Bill has appeared as a guest on several of television’s financial magazines such as Money Line and Money Matters. He appeared on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson after he had sold the “Pride of Texas” the famous Glorietta Ranch.

Bill entered the auction business after graduating from Baylor University Hankamer School of Business in 1970. His area of specialty was real estate as well as heavy equipment. His focus was to work with major construction companies and sell equipment on site at the completion of projects. He had equipment yards in Ft. Worth and Houston.

He left his company with members of his family in 1973 to return to Waco Texas and fulfill a life long dream and obtain a law degree.

Armed with a new education in 1977, Bill started Great Southwest Auctions Reality to offer a service portal to the Texas Banking Industry. His plan was to offer multi-state as well as multi-national exposure to real estate owned by banks due to trust and estate holding accumulated from probate proceedings. The service soon expanded to any and all real estate owned by financial institutions. With the mega mergers of bank groups, the need for real estate services grew to national levels.

In 1986, Bill held one of the first multi parcel recreational property Seven Coves on Lakes Conroe, just north of Houston TX. The entire offering sold setting a national sales record for a two-day real estate sale and set precedence for additional development sales.

Whether it is a multi-million dollar home, a plantation with contagious acreage, commercial property, a recreational facility, or development property – If its real estate-it can be sold at auction. Mary Kay Ashe of Dallas, Singer Kenny Rogers, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, all sold their property at auction. The list of multi-million dollar properties sold at auction grows every day.

In 2005, the auction industry accounted for an estimated 232 billion dollars in real estate activity. Major retailers including Wal-Mart, Auto-Zone, Circuit City, Montgomery Wards have chosen the auction method to market their property”

In 1982, Bill ventured into another area-oil and gas. After a long arduous selection process, Ken Olive, President and CEO of the Oil and Gas Asset Clearing House, Houston TX, chose Group Southwest Auctions to officiate over its energy auctions. To date more than 4 billion dollars in energy auctions have been completed. Sellers at these auctions include Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, Kerr McGee, Anadarko, British Petroleum, Conoco Phillips, and Amerada Hess. New records in single as well as two day sales have been set. The 1st hundred million dollar sale took place in December 2005. The outlook for 2006 looks brisk and active.

T. Eddie Haynes - Professional Auctioneer

Eddie Haynes, president of Eddie Haynes, Inc. became active in the auctioneering business almost three decades ago. He holds auctioneer’s licenses and real estate licenses in over half of the United States.

Eddie’s career includes sales of multimillion dollar “trophy” commercial, residential, farm and ranch properties. He holds the distinction of $250,000,000 in RTC asset liquidations and has surpassed the two billion dollar mark in sales of oil and gas properties. Sales have included former U.S. treasury secretary Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s 10,000 acre Texas ranch; Top Ten Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Bildarth Mansion; Ragged Island off Chesapeake Bay; Texas-based Veladi ranch; billionaire John McAfee’s (developer of McAfee VirusScan) beach front property in Molokai, Hawaii; and other properties in the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, the Virgin Islands, and throughout the rest of the United States and Canada.

Some of Eddie Haynes’ distinctions and honors include:

National Auctioneer’s Association (NAA) Hall of Fame
Past President National Auctioneer’s Association
Oklahoma Auctioneer’s Association Hall of Fame
Past President Oklahoma Auctioneer‘s Association
Past President Oklahoma Real Estate Land Institute
NAA Representative to National Real Estate Council
NAA Representative to the Resolution Trust Corporation
Board of Directors, Auction Marketing Institute
National Association of Oklahoma Master Appraisers
Certified Auctioneers Institute Accreditation
Master Farm and Land Appraiser
Former Chairman NAA governmental affairs
Member NAA Foundation
American Red Cross -- Central Oklahoma Chapter, Community Volunteer of the Year Award
Director and Trustee Southwest Livestock Show
Outstanding Oklahoma Auctioneer – 1987

Mr. Haynes’ community service includes service as a supporter, officer or benefit auctioneer for the following organizations: Rodeo Historical Society, National American Red Cross, Oklahoma Junior Livestock Association, St. Anthony Hospital Foundation, Oklahoma Safari Club, Ducks Unlimited, Equine Therapy Center, St. Jude’s Hospital and others.

He has received numerous national awards for marketing design on an ongoing basis. Eddie is married, has two children in Seattle, Washington and resides in Oklahoma.

Troy D. Lippard - CAI, President of Lippard Auctioneers, Inc.

Troy D. Lippard, CAI, President of Lippard Auctioneers, Inc. Is a graduate of Missouri Auction School in 1988, and a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, Illinois acquiring a CAI designation (certified Auctioneers Institute) in real estate. He holds an auction license in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and New York and holds a real estate brokers licenses in Oklahoma and Kansas. He is a member of the National Auctioneers Association, Oklahoma State Auctioneers Association and the Canadian Auctioneers Association. A graduate of Lincoln Appraisal school holding a Master Farm & Land Appraisers designation and also a graduate of the Thompson Advertising school in Kansas City, Kansas in 1992. Troy, has held positions on several boards including: board of director, President, Chairman of the board for the Oklahoma State Auctioneers Association, board of director for the American Businessman Club, Enid, Oklahoma. He is the 1999 Oklahoma State Champion Auctioneer, a 5- time finalist in the International Auctioneers Championship Contest and a 3- time finalist in the All World Auctioneers Championship Contest held in Canada.

Troy started in the auction business from the ground floor position including: clerking, cashiering, working as a ring-person, bid-calling and finally the managing end of the business. He is also an associate with Great Southwest Auction Company in Houston, Texas selling Millions of dollars a year in oil and gas minerals.

Troy, currently works across the United States for other auction companies selling aviation, real estate, equipment, etc. He is married to wife Angie and has three children Brady, Haylee, Whitney and currently attends Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid, Oklahoma.