GENE J. FINZ
Lead Auctioneer & Managing Member,
505/AUCTION, LLC
AUCTIONEER & ASSET APPRAISER
Gene Finz first became licensed as a Professional Auctioneer in 1980, during which time he has sold over $50 million in personal and commercial property and over $12 million in real estate. During his career, Finz has been a respected member of the National Auctioneers Association, the Texas Auctioneers’ Association, the New Jersey State Society of Auctioneers, and various Better Business Bureaus and Chambers of Commerce, and has been licensed to conduct auctions in fifteen states and/or municipalities. Finz has conducted auctions for Governor Bruce King (Ret., NM), District Attorney Bob Schwartz (Ret., Bernalillo County, NM), and has, on five occasions, lectured at the University of New Mexico School of Law on the subject of Art Auctions. In addition to holding an esteemed position in the auction profession, Finz is also a Certified Asset Appraiser, having performed appraisals for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), other governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, and numerous law firms and bankruptcy trustees.
MUSIC
Attributable to his musical upbringing, Gene was admitted to the prestigious High School of Music & Art in New York City.
THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY & FRANCHISING
While attending college, he was hired by Pan American World Airways in New York, and later by Alitalia Airlines, where he coordinated the airline's sales activity with over 100 travel agencies on Long Island, NY, as regional sales representative. In 1973 he founded Tour Mates, Inc., a Lake Success, New York based travel agency. Under his leadership, the company evolved into a chain of 13 travel agencies with franchises in 7 states and an annual gross revenue of $10 million. In 1980 he sold the chain and moved to the sunbelt, where served a brief stint as Assistant to the President of another franchisor, Meineke Discount Mufflers of Houston, Texas. It was in Texas that Finz acquired his first auctioneer’s license, adopting as a vocation what had been an avocation for years.
REAL ESTATE
In addition to being an Auctioneer and a Certified Asset Appraiser, Gene Finz was licensed as a New Mexico Real Estate Broker in 1991, and has held a Florida Real Estate Broker license since 2010. He has also held the role of Owner/ Broker of Albuquerque based CONGRATULATIONS REALTY, LLC. During his first year in that position, Finz personally listed over 100 homes. He recently organized SUNRISE LAKES REALTY as a Florida subsidiary.
RADIO TALK SHOW HOST
Finz also achieved fame as a radio talk show host for, among others, the 50,000 watt 18-state-reach, Albuquerque based 770-KKOB. In that position he has had the distinction of interviewing countless national and political figures including James Baker, Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush; 2016 Libertarian Presidential Candidate and former NM Governor Gary Johnson; Senators Gary Hart and Michael Dukakis; Former Presidential Candidate and Governor Bill Richardson; Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, FL Public Defender Hugh Rodham; Dr. Jack Kevorkian; and many others.
THE MOTOR SCOOTER BUSINESS
In 2012, while vacationing in the picturesque mountain town of Ruidoso, NM, Finz was inspired to start SCOOT OVER RUIDOSO, a small motor scooter rental business. In the years that followed, the small fleet of motor scooters was expanded four-fold, and additional locations were opened throughout New Mexico under the moniker, SCOOT OVER AMERICA.
PUBLISHED AUTHOR
In 2023, Finz signed a 5-book deal with BEST SELLER PUBLICATION LC. Two of his books, "'I DO NOT CONSENT', Summarizing and Simplifying THE SOVEREIGN CITIZEN IDEOLOGY" and "FROM POWER TO PENETENTIARY, Summarizing and Simplifying DONALD TRUMP'S 91 CRIMINAL CHARGES" have already been publsihed, with "'I HATE YOU', Summarizing and Simplifying THE ISRAELI / PALESTINIAN CONFLICT From Its Historic Roots To The Present Day"; "'I KNOW WORDS, I HAVE THE BEST WORDS', An Expert's Guide to Writing Real Estate Ads That Sell"; and "CREDIT JOURNALING, The New, Groundbreaking Approach to Managing and Manipulating Your Credit Score" due to be out by mid 2024.
HONORS
Among his personal accolades, Finz was voted one of the "TOP TEN AUCTIONEERS IN AMERICA". In 2003 he was named "REAL ESTATE INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR" for his establishment of Congratulations Realty, the Southwest's first significant flat-fee discounter of residential listing services. Early in his radio career, of the 69 stations in the Albuquerque market, Finz achieved an audience "share" rating of 17.5, effectively capturing 87% of the entire audience listening to the radio during the hours he was on the air.
In 2007, Finz was nominated for inclusion in the Heritage Society's "WHO'S WHO IN AMERICAN BUSINESS" where his profile appeared the following year.
In 2012, he was invited to audition for the role of auctioneer for A&E's hit reality show STORAGE WARS which was preparing to add STORAGE WARS MIAMI. He was under contract for the role until 2015 when production plans changed. Several of his audition tapes still appear on the web today.
Gene Finz can be contacted directly at Gene@GeneFinz.com.
Updated December, 2023