Sixty-one Chattanooga area properties were sold in bankruptcy auction on Tuesday for $651,800, said trustee Jerrold D. Farinash.

A car wash-office-storage complex and adjacent lot on Highway 41 in Ringgold, Ga., were the commercial properties sold, said Chuck Fisher, project manager for auctioneer Furrow Auction Co.

The Ringgold properties sold for $312,000.

The remainder of the properties sold were homes and vacant land. Individual homes sold as low as $4,750. The bulk of the properties were in Highland Park, Alton Park, St. Elmo, Ringgold, Rossville and Soddy-Daisy.

Marlene Strickland, of Chattanooga, said she bought six houses in the auction for $40,000. Ms. Strickland said the purchases were her first investments, and she was considering giving the homes to her family for investments or to live in.

“I want to bless my niece, nephew and daughter,” she said. The absolute auction was held at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Most of the properties had been owned by one person, Mr. Fisher said. Mr. Fisher declined to name the former owner, but U.S. Bankruptcy Court documents show the owner to have been Lauri W. Hyyti of the Chattanooga area.

The closings will happen within 20 days, Mr. Fisher said, and a 10 percent buyer’s premium will be added to the price.

Mr. Hyyti’s attorney, Lloyd Stanley Jr., said the case was first filed in Chapter 11 but later changed to Chapter 7.

A total of five bankruptcy cases were involved, said Mr. Farinash, who was trustee for all the properties.

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