Johnny Depp's private village in the South of France is listed for $55 million.
Being a celebrity may earn the big bucks, but it doesn't always mean you can sell your home for top dollar, or even sell your home at all.
In a recent survey of 60 celebrities, Redfin, the real estate news and analysis website, found that, on average, celebrity-owned houses stayed on the market 36 days longer than other homes and usually sold for less than the asking price.
Young and old pay hundreds if not thousands for replica of their belongings or garb, so you’d find it astonishing that people with money would hesitate to grab their homes for themselves or, even, for renovating and selling to others.
There may be two reasons for this, suggests Redfin. First, celebrities include certain add-ons on their homes that may dissuade prospective buyers from investing. Indeed, the researchers found that celebrity-owned homes tend to be bigger with more bedrooms and bathrooms. Not everyone wants that extra bedroom or spa, even if Marilyn Monroe had occupied it.
Then again, celebrities are obsessed with their privacy. Home buying involves a visit to the home, if not to the seller. Some enterprising tourists may latch onto the opportunity, simply to see their hero or heroine. Few celebrities want that. Few, too, says Connie Blankenship, a Beverly Hills real estate agent with Douglas Elliman, list their homes on multiple listing services (MLS), which reduces the list of prospective buyers even more.
MarketWatch adds that celebrities tend too to overprice their homes. “It’s not uncommon for the rich and/or famous to overspend on the purchase of a home and then customize it too much––making it very difficult to recoup expenses.”
The short of it is that celebrities such as Katy Perry have sold their homes for more than $1 million under the asking price. Matthew Perry settled for $2.85 million less than his original $25 million. Jessica Simpson clawed all the way down to $6.4 million, which is $1.595 million less than what she wanted for her Beverly Hills estate.
Other celebrities have homes that have been on and off the market for months, if not for years.
Tom Cruise has been trying to sell his home for the past two years. According to The Wall Street Journal, he listed it in 2014 for $59 million. That’s its price today.
Michael Jordan's estate has been on the market for four years. His 56,000-square-foot house north of Chicago was listed for $29 million in 2012. It’s down to $14,855,000, as of July 2016. The house has nine bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a basketball court, a card room, a humidor, a putting green, a fitness studio, and a tennis court. Jordan’s real estate agent Kofi Nartey tried to woo buyers with a pair of every edition of Air Jordan sneakers in his or her size. No takers, though.
It’s not so easy being a celebrity if your home doesn't sell. Normal people may, actually, have it easier.
Image courtesy of Alexander Kraft of Cote d’Azure/Sotheby’s International Realty
